


A Walk Through Fire

by CoolkidKing34662



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27341002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoolkidKing34662/pseuds/CoolkidKing34662
Summary: Azula is usually set in her ways, but when she captures the Avatar, everything starts to change and she can't explain why. This is mostly an Azulaang story but will also contain Zutara. Chapters will come out weekly!
Relationships: Aang & Azula (Avatar), Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Kudos: 12





	1. Chapter 1

Hello! Welcome to the world of AWTF! This story will follow an AU where Aang gets captured when facing Azula during the episode "The Crossroads of Destiny" (Last episode of Book 2). In this story, Aang does not die from getting shot with lightning but goes unconscious, along with some other plot-related things which you will figure out. This story is going to be rated M because of cursing and some lemony stuff later on in the story.

The main ship will be Azulang (Aang x Azula) but will include Zutara and Sukka.

I also took the liberty to alter the ages of the characters:

Aang and Toph are 16

Suki is 17

Katara, Azula, and Ty Lee are 18

Mai and Sokka are 19

Zuko is 20

Alright, since this is my first Fic ever, chapters are going to be around 2000 to 2500 words and I hope to have a new chapter uploaded every week.

With that out of the way….LET THE STORY BEGIN!

Oh, also, this first chapter contains torture.

Chapter 1

Aang awoke in a very dark room surrounded by chains. He tried to move his arms and legs but they were bound to the ceiling, leaving him suspended in the air. Trying to gauge his surroundings, Aang looked around but could see nothing but metal encasing him in his cell.

"Well, this is just fantastic," Aang sighed to himself. "There's gotta be a way I can get out of here and find Katara." He tried to swing himself and wiggle one of his arms free from the shackle, suspending him in midair, but it was no use; they were too tight around his wrist.

What he failed to realize was that every time he moved, the chains would make a noise signaling to the guards posted outside of his cell that he was alive and awake.

"Should we go tell her that he's awake?" the guard asked his counterpart concerned. Neither one of them had ever met their enforcer and they both wanted to keep it that way. It was the guaranteed way to stay alive in this awful war.

"I'll go tell her that the little shit is awake. You better keep watch in case he tries to escape, though I doubt he can," he said to his partner as he walked away towards where he thought the Princess would be. It was a walk that seemed far longer than it was due to the fear that he would never see his partner again, causing this walk to be so agonizing.

Arriving at the throne room from the dungeon beneath the Palace was easier said than done for the guard. There were Fire Nation personnel everywhere in the Palace due to the nature of the War. As he walked into the throne room, the guard slowly walked up to the foot of the throne and bowed.

"My Lady, I come bearing news from the dungeon," The guard announced in a timid manner. He was, however, able to get his point across to the person he was speaking to.

"Really? And what news would that be exactly?" The Princess asked without so much as glancing up from her perfectly manicured nails.

"The Avatar is awake, my Princess."

Now he had her attention. Looking up at him, she produced her trademark grin, causing the hairs on the back of the poor guard's neck to stand at attention.

"Perfect," Azula said, smirking. I will go see him immediately." Getting up from her throne, she started to walk down to the guard and smirked, already knowing that he was about to piss his pants.

"Escort me to the prisoner," she said to him causing him to shudder and squirm.

"R-right away my P-princess," the guard sputtered, immediately walking back toward the dungeons like his life depended on it...which for his case, it did.

Arriving at the cell door, the guard unlocked it and let Azula into the cell, closing the door tightly behind her once she was inside.

While in his cell, Aang was trying to remember how in the world he got there. The last thing that he remembered was being in the Avatar State, then feeling a jolt of electricity run through him, and then falling towards the ground. But how did he end up suspended in the air in a prison cell? He didn't even notice when the producer of the bolt of lightning that knocked him out entered the very cell he was trapped in.

"Wow, Avatar," sneered Azula. "Isn't it funny how you can go from being the most powerful person on the planet to being trapped in a metal box with no way out?" Azula produced her smirk which penetrated his thoughts, jolting him back to the plane of the living.

"Oh well, looks like you're trapped here," she continued. "No way to contact that Waterbending bitch of yours to try and save you; no ten-ton flying bison to bust you out here. Just you, me, and four chains holding you up in the air." She paced around her prisoner, examining him up close and taking in what she saw.

He looked to be around six feet with not an ounce of fat on him. His head was covered with light scarring and a bruised cyan arrow. Looking down to the rest of his body, she noticed the nice red and orange scar at the swell of his back where the lightning entered his body. He was definitely at the peak of physical fitness boasting sculpted back and calf muscles. Walking to the front of him she noticed the small amount of scars that littered his face and torso; and what a torso it was. His muscles looked to be chiseled out of stone. He wasn't the most buff person in the world, but his muscles looked to be at peak condition. This was probably due to the amount of running and fighting he was doing on a regular basis due to the war they were currently fighting.

Azula smirked once she finished her inspection of the prisoner and liked what she saw. He was a very attractive man. Too bad he was her prisoner and wasn't going to be leaving this cell anytime soon.

"What are you even doing here?" Aang spat at the Princess who was currently staring at him. "Don't you have a city to be conquering or were you so stupid that you burned it to the ground?"

Azula grinned. "I'll have you know that the way I run the city that you so kindly handed to me is being handled with the utmost care and attention."

"I bet. We don't want to upset daddy now, do we?" Aang fired at the princess. She glared at him, now processing the insult.

"How dare you insult the Fire Lord in front of me Avatar!" Azula boomed, raising her hand and producing a light blue flame. She fired it at the defenseless Avatar, causing him to cry out in pain. "You're lucky I can't just kill you right here, but you could be of use to me alive." She continued to pelt him with fire until she saw him whimper.

"I'd rather die then help anyone like you!" Aang screamed while in serious pain. He didn't know how long he had been in here or how long it had been since he had had any sort of food or water and it was starting to get to him.

"Such a pity," Azula sneered. "I guess the food and water will just have to wait. Only compliant prisoners are allowed to have food and water. Let's not even begin to talk about sleep." She smiled, taking out a bottle of water and drinking from it right in front of him. The sight of water caused Aang to struggle against his bindings trying to get even a taste of the water in front of him. Unfortunately for him, Azula saw this and produced another torrent of flames around Aang's body, causing him to rile in pain and agony as his skin slowly started to burn and char.

Azula admired the handy work she did. As she was about to leave the prison cell, she spoke in a singsong tone: "Remember, Avatar, only good prisoners get food and water, so don't go trying to escape." With that, she made her exit, leaving the Avatar in a state of pain and delirium.

As she was walking down the hallway back to the throne room, she was stopped by her two best friends: Mai and Ty Lee. Both had heard the screams from across the palace and wanted to see what was going on.

"Azula, what was all that screaming?" Mai asked in her monotone voice. Her face was void of any emotion while Ty Lee's was showing lots of concern and curiosity.

"Ohh, nothing, girls," Azula said. "It was just a chit-chat with our newest and most powerful prisoner, the Avatar."

As soon as they heard that title, both girls shuddered at the memories that were associated with that name. Having seen him and his group of friends in action, they were definitely afraid of what he could do.

"What happened in there? You never explained the screams," Mai asked curiously towards her friend.

"Well, I just taunted him and burned him when he didn't cooperate," Azula responded simply. "It was actually quite an enjoyable experience," she added smugly, though she really did enjoy torturing him. The way he was so…powerless brought a jolt to her that she could not explain.

"I think that he will be complying with my demands very soon and we can start phase one of the plan," Azula continued as she thought up more ways to torture the poor man.

"You never did tell us this master plan of yours," Mai droned.

"Yeah, what gives Zula?" Ty Lee pouted. "You used to tell us all of your evil schemes!" She was making a fool of herself, causing the other two girls to roll their eyes and start walking toward their chambers.

"I'll tell you both eventually. Right now we just need to focus on doing the impossible: break the Avatar!" Azula grinned as she walked towards her sleeping chamber followed closely by her two friends, who were still very confused by what she meant.

Azula, however, was very sure of what she meant and was actually looking forward to the sadistic plans she was formulating in her head.

"You think today was rough, Avatar? You haven't seen anything yet," Azula said, smirking as she closed the door to her bedroom.

Katara was running out of the cave where the fight had occurred. She had just seen Aang, the Avatar, the last hope of humanity, get shot down with lightning by Azula and she was scared for her life. When she did get out of the cave, she was met by Sokka and Toph who were on top of Appa.

"Katara, jump on, we don't have much time!" Sokka cried while trying to steady Appa, who was also nervous.

Katara jumped into the saddle and shouted for him to go when she heard someone call for them to stop.

"Is that...ZUKO?" Katara cried. "Sokka, we gotta go back and save him!" She tried to get him to stop for Zuko.

"Umm, Katara, no offense, but...WHY THE FUCK ARE WE PICKING UP THE ENEMY?!" Sokka yelled at his sister, who was trying to turn Appa.

"Uh, guys?" Toph interrupted. "Maybe we should make a decision before someone falls off the fucking saddle."

Zuko took his opportunity and used Firebending to propel himself into the saddle. "Alright, guys, thanks for waiting. But we gotta get the fuck out of here."

Sokka begrudgingly commanded Appa to start flying away from the city walls.

"Ba Sing Se has fallen," Zuko said to the crew as the walled city moved further and further behind them.

A few hours later, Sokka found a nice patch of land to camp on for the night. Although, the group wouldn't be getting much sleep that night.

They were gathered around the campfire when suddenly he noticed something was off.

"Hey, wait a minute...where's Aang?" Sokka asked, looking around for his friend who he had not realized was missing until they landed.

"Actually, yeah. Where is Aang?" Toph wondered. "Wasn't he with you, Sugar Queen?" She looked at Katara who just had a blank expression on her face.

"Katara…what happened back there? In the cave? I-is Aang…" Sokka asked the question that first came to his mind when he realized that his friend was not with them.

"I...I don't know," Katara began. "I just saw that bitch strike him down with her lightning and then everything was going so fast that I don't-I don't know if he's alive. I don't know if he's dead….All I know is that he's not here and it's my fault...I should have done more. I…I wasn't strong enough. I just wasn't fast enough." She sobbed into her hands as Zuko made a move to try and comfort her, but was quickly stopped by Sokka who moved to protect his sister from him.

"Don't even THINK to go anywhere NEAR my sister after all the things you've done to her!" he commanded at Zuko, "after all the times you've hunted us down and tried to kill us!" He held his sobbing sister close to him.

"My fault?!" Zuko said to Sokka, who had gotten up into his face. "How the fuck is it my fault?! I didn't shoot him with lightning! I didn't do any of this. If you have anyone to blame, it's my crazy ass sister! Don't you dare pin this on me!"

"Look, Scarface," Sokka retorted, "I don't know what kind of scheme you're up to, but you don't belong here. You have done nothing to deserve being here. All you have done is hunt us down from the bottom of the fucking world. And now that Aang's not here, look who decides to show his ugly ass face? Let's think about it...oh wait...IT'S YOU!" He then shoved Zuko to the ground and kicked him.

Zuko, also fuming at the situation, retaliated, kicking Sokka in the legs and making him fall down. "Once again, you ice brained idiot, I didn't do anything!" he claimed. "I'm sorry I hunted you down for all that time, I really am. But I didn't kill the Avatar, I swear!"

Zuko punched Sokka square in the jaw, sending the Non-Bender to the ground.

"Oh, you done did it now, Fire Nation scum..." Sokka fumed.

He leapt from the ground and charged the Firebender, who was ready to block his attack. Punches and kicks were exchanged between the two before a barrier of rock formed, separating them.

"WILL YOU BOTH JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?" Toph boomed as she tried to restrict the two angry men from killing each other. "Look, we've all had a very long and a very exhausting day. How about we all just get some sleep and then tomorrow we try to regroup and figure out the shitshow that was today, alright?" She gestured to Katara who already had her tent set up, ready to sleep.

"Alright, fine, I'll go to sleep," Sokka said, "as long as Sparky over there goes to sleep on his side of the wall."

"You know what?" Zuko flared. "Fuck it! I'll just sleep over there where you aren't." He grabbed Aang's sleeping tent from the saddle and set up his stuff far away from everyone else.

Seeing that everyone is settled and not moving anymore, Toph sighed, created an earth-tent for herself, and walked inside of it, closing off the entrance and hoping to get some kind of sleep. She didn't know what she was going to be waking up to in the morning, but she did know that she was going to have to face it, regardless of whether she got any actual sleep or not. She hoped that it was the former and not the latter, but these days it didn't seem like things were going her way. Or, anyone's way, for that matter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Howdy folks and welcome to Chapter 2 of A Walk Through Fire! I have decided to change a few things about this story. One thing being that I will be updating this story weekly on Mondays. Another thing being that these chapters will be slightly longer. Hope you enjoy! Please PM me if you have any questions.
> 
> I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. Only Nick does.

"Why hello Avatar. How's the hospitality been? I hope it's to your liking!" Azula smirked as she entered the cell, looking at her captive prey still being suspended in the air.

Aang looked up at her and grimaced; remembering their last meeting in the cell resulted in nearly being burned to death.

"What are you here to do, gloat about how you have food and water?" Aang spat back at her with venom in his voice. He doesn't know why she keeps visiting him; it was making him quite uncomfortable.

"No actually, I was just seeing if you would like to get out of this pitiful cell." Azula paced around him shaking the chains holding up his body causing him to groan in discomfort. "I mean, there's a catch, of course, but at this point, if I were you, I would accept the offer to get out of here," Azula quipped as she traced her long sharp nails down his back, causing him to moan, however unsure if it was from pain or pleasure.

"Well, it depends on what I would be doing since you obviously want me to do something for you," Aang said, confused as to why his captor would be setting him free so abruptly.

"I will be letting you out but only to have you work for me," Azula stated. "You will be my soldier. You will be loyal to me and me alone."

She stopped walking and tilted his head to see his eyes. Long were the days of those happy bright eyes; no, these eyes were hard and were cold like stone.

"I would never work for the Fire Nation," Aang proclaimed. "I would never betray my friends and allies. You can keep me locked in here for the rest of my life and I would still never help you take over the world!" He was proud that he wasn't broken even after weeks of torture he's endured.

"Hmmm, so it seems the guards haven't broken that will of yours, Avatar,"

Azula continued her walk around the cell, grinning at what she was about to do. She started moving her hands, creating small crackles of lightning. "Oh well. I guess a few more marks wouldn't ruin that sexy body of yours."

Azula stopped the moment she said the sentence but decided to move past it.

Aang was confused as he processed what the Princess was saying. She just called me sexy, he thought to himself while also mentally preparing for the sheer amount of pain he was about to endure from the Princess's lightning.

"Such a pity. Oh well, you'll break, Avatar, and it will be soon. Your body can only take so much lightning," Azula said, pressing her hand into his ribs, causing him to scream in pain and agony. The lightning was deliberately made so that it wouldn't kill him but would cause him excruciating pain.

"Only you can stop this pain," she whispered into his ear. "Only you can end your suffering, Avatar. You brought this misery upon yourself and only you can stop it. Just say those magic words and all this pain can end."

She was enticing him to quit, pushing him ever so close to the edge so that he would submit to her torture.

The torture went on for hours. Azula was moving her hands all over his body while producing lightning, causing immense pain all over his body. For some reason, she enjoyed seeing him like this. Yes, she was a sadistic monster, but seeing him so… helpless and submissive made her feel something different. She had never felt this feeling before, and honestly, she liked it. She felt a warm and tingling feeling moving down her spine. It felt...unexplainable. She hadn't realized that she was staring at her prey and blushing until she heard his voice.

"F-f-fine," Aang managed to croak, finally submitting to his punishment.

"What did you say, Avatar? I couldn't hear what you had said. You'll need to learn to speak up if you are going to serve me." Azula smirked. She knew that she was finally breaking him. She knew that he was hers, but she needed to cement her beliefs so she kept goading him.

"I will be your servant. I will do what you say... but please, I'm begging you, please stop!" Aang was at his breaking point. He had nothing left in the tank after being shot with lightning for hours.

"Who do you belong to, Avatar?"

"I…I belong to you."

Aang was barely able to say the words without feeling a jolt of electricity rock through his body, causing him to scream in pain.

Azula smiles. She can see his willpower slowly drain from his eyes. "Say it louder! I can't hear you."

"I belong to you," Aang wheezed as the electricity was getting worse the longer it was going through his body.

"And who am I Avatar?"

"Princess Azula of the Fire Nation." Aang was screaming from pain as the lighting was getting too much for him to handle.

Realizing that Aang was at his limit, she forced him to say one last thing before he fell unconscious. "And who do you belong to Avatar? Who is your master?" Azula was pushing him to the max and she knew it. She wanted to hear him say it. She wanted the most powerful person in the world to say that he was hers.

"I belong to Princess Azula of the Fire Nation!" Aang cried before the pain overcame his body, causing him to fall unconscious in front of the Princess who was smirking at him.

Azula spent some time looking at the Avatar who was now under her control. While yes, his body was smoldering and burn marks were everywhere on his torso, he still looked hot. He was glistening in sweat and his muscles were very tight from the extreme stress she had just put him under. She subconsciously licked her lips and smiled. Her brain was thinking of many different dirty thoughts as she was staring at him, and they only got dirtier the longer she looked.

Shaking her head and trying to rid herself of these new and unusual thoughts, Azula left the prison cell and took one last look at her prisoner in chains before closing the door.

As she walked towards the main part of the palace, she asked a guard what time it was and was informed that it was well past lunch and almost time for dinner. She needed sleep, but more importantly, she needed to change her clothes as she smelled like fire and sweat.

The walk back to her room was one filled with deep thoughts and confusion. Azula had always been known as the person who was cunning and calculating. She could always scan a room and instantly understand what was going on and how to affect the outcome to be in her favor, but right now she didn't know what her next step was. She knew that she was going to have to break the Avatar, but she did not expect it to be so soon. She also had not taken into account how attractive he would be.

Thinking about the Avatar caused her to blush slightly, something she never did when thinking about anyone. What is with him? Azula pondered. I haven't been able to get him out of my head for days. It's been 3 weeks since she had captured him and she could not for the life of her get him out of her head. She would try to busy herself in other things but Aang would always find his way back into her head. Mai and Ty Lee noticed that something was different about the Princess but never said anything to her and Azula was grateful for that.

She was so caught up in her thoughts, in fact, she didn't realize that someone was walking in front of her and ended up bumping into one of her friends.

"Zula!" Ty Lee exclaimed loudly, causing the young Princess to snap out of her trance-like state. "You really have to watch where you are going, girly. You don't want to hurt yourself. What were you even thinking about anyway?"

"N-nothing Ty Lee. I wasn't thinking about anything important." Azula exclaimed as she regained her composure and shuffled to the other side of the hallway, still looking at her friend.

"Well, you looked...dazed," Ty lee continued, "and your aura is really fuzzy for some reason, which is weird because usually it's-"

"Everything is fine," blurted Azula. "I do not wish to hear about my silly aura right now. I wish to simply go to my room and take a nap. I am very tired from my visit with our prisoner as it was a very long ordeal and I wish to sleep before dinner." At the mention of the Avatar, Azula starts to blush a little bit. Ty Lee seems to notice.

"Ohhh, who was the prisoner, Zula? Was he cute?" Ty Lee giggles and gives her trademark smile, making Azula blush more.

"Ty Lee, I do not wish to discuss the state of our prisoners with you," Azula states, trying to get her emotions under control but failing miserably. "If you don't leave me alone, Ty Lee, I swear to Agni I'll burn you to ashes!"

Not wanting to become a pile of dust, Ty Lee stifled her giggles and just smiles, walking past the still blushing Princess. "I'll see you at dinner, Zula!" Ty Lee walked down the hallway, leaving a still disgruntled Azula.

A few minutes later, Azula entered her room, locked her door, and looked at herself in the mirror. What she saw was a large surprise. She looked like she had run a marathon; drenched with sweat and dead skin, she decided to shower and just sleep through dinner.

When she did decide to join the land of the living, it was very late and almost dark. She had one of the Earth Palace servants fetch her something to eat and decided that now was the time to think about what she was going to do next. Eventually, she figured out what she had to do and ordered for the Avatar to be removed from his cell and placed into the room adjacent to hers. It was a decision that would start her on a path that even she couldn't see the end of.

When Toph had finally gotten out of her tent that morning, all she heard was a silence which was quite unusual for her. Normally she would hear someone talking over food or at least some kind of noise. However, this morning there was nothing.

Well, that's odd. Where is everyone? Toph then used her Seismic Sense to "see" where everyone was. She found Katara still in her tent crying, and both of the boys were getting wood not too far away from camp. Well, at least they aren't fighting like last night.Getting out of her tent, she made her way over to Katara's. When she entered the tent, she found Katara hunched over and crying about the events that transpired yesterday. "Yo, Sugar Queen, where's breakfast? I'm starving!" Toph tries to break the ice knowing that if she could get the Water Tribe native talking, life would be a lot easier for all of them.

"I guess I didn't think that you would want me to do anything since I apparently can't even keep Aang safe." Katara clearly hadn't gotten any sleep last night and was thinking that all of this was her fault.

"Now what kind of bullshit is that?!" Toph yelled, laughing at Katara who was still sulking in her tent. "Where in the fresh fuck did you ever get that idea? I mean, sure, Aang is captured, but he's probably not dead. We need you, Sweetness. This team wouldn't function without you on it." Toph sat down next to Katara very timidly. "Listen, while I don't know what happened yesterday down in that cave, what I do know is that you would have tried everything in your power to save and help Aang."

"Really Toph?" Katara looked at her friend with tears in her eyes. "I just wasn't strong enough or fast enough, I-"

"Will you please stop putting yourself down? I mean holy fuck, we'll get him back, he won't be gone forever. Now come on, let's go get some food and we can discuss our next move because I get the feeling that we are gonna be moving soon." Toph grabbed Katara and got her out of the tent only to find the boys sitting around.

"Sooo are we just not gonna eat today?" Sokka asked, looking at Katara and Toph, who was staring towards the noise that she heard.

"I think that you could go a day without eating." Zuko mumbles to himself, playing with a small flame in his palm.

"What would you know about skipping a meal, almighty Prince Zuko?"

"BOTH OF YOU BETTER SHUT THE FUCK UP BEFORE I BURY YOU ALIVE!" exploded Toph. "I'm sick and tired of hearing both of you arguing back and forth! We get it, you don't like each other, but right now we need to figure out a plan to not only get Aang back but also not die."

The boys were scared out of their minds causing them to squirm and shudder. Seeing both the boys shaking in place made Katara smile and laugh out loud.

"Alright, Toph, I think they get the message," Katara sputtered through fits of laughter. "You can stop scaring them now." She was wheezing at this point and was about to fall onto the floor, earning glares from both Sokka and Zuko.

"Alright, fine," said Sokka, "I will stop arguing with Zuko, but only if he does his part in the group and helps us." He looked at the Prince and held out his hand for him to shake it.

"Deal!" Zuko approved, "and I also wanted to apologize for chasing you guys for so long. I lost my way and didn't realize that what I stood for for so long was wrong. All the Fire Nation does is spread pain and suffering, not glory. I want to take down my father who gave me this scar. I want to take down my father for the families he's separated. I want to help you restore the world. I...I want to help." Zuko was full of emotion. A single tear fell from his face as the adrenaline fell away from his body, leaving him emotionally raw and shaking. He honestly didn't know what came over him at that moment but it felt good.

"What is up with everyone being so emotional today?" Toph scoffed and walked toward the young Prince, punching him square on the arm.

"Now that we've all made up and everything is fine again, can we PLEASE have some food? I'm starving!" Sokka cried out loud, causing everyone to laugh and smile for the first time in what felt like a while.

After the first day of everyone being together, the group started to get along very well. At this point they had been together for 3 weeks camping just outside of Ba Sing Se. They generally spent this time trying to find Aang, but they couldn't find a trace of him. They would try to sneak back into the palace, but were always either found, or couldn't find him anywhere. After the fifth time of getting caught and nearly captured, they decided they needed a new plan.

"Alright, we need a new plan because obviously this current one is not working!" Toph said to the others. "We've almost been captured like five fucking times and we still haven't found anything!"

"Man, I wish Suki was here," sulked Sokka. "With her, we could have an extra person to help with the search. " Sokka explained to the group.

"Wait... that name sounds familiar. Who is she?" Zuko asked.

"Well, she's the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors and my girlfriend. She's about five foot six, brown hair, blue eyes. Have you seen her?" Sokka looked at the Prince with intrigue and longing. He can't remember the last time he even saw his girlfriend and he missed her terribly.

"I think I know where she might be, but it's in the Fire Nation, and you won't like it. Before I decided to join you guys, I was snooping around and saw some prison transfers and she was on the list to go to a place called the Boiling Rock. It's a maximum security prison for the worst war criminals," Zuko explained to the group. "The transfers were recent, though, so maybe they haven't gotten to Pohuai Stronghold yet. If they get to the Stronghold, they would be boarding a ship, taking them to the island."

"So what you're saying is that you knew this fucking infomation and DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING?!" Sokka exclaimed towards Zuko.

He frowned at Sokka in return. "I'm sorry! I didn't think that it would be that useful! I also was, you know, trying not to fucking die! If we leave tomorrow, we might be able to catch them! Or, we can leave now and try to catch them. I'm pretty sure I read that it takes a month for them to get out of the Earth Kingdom, so we should be able to catch them."

"Yes, that makes sense, but what about Aang?" Katara pitched in. "He NEEDS us and we don't even know if he is alive right now or where he is."

"Yes, Katara, but we know for sure where Suki could be," said Sokka. "If we go get Suki, we could always come back and look for him again. We also aren't certain that he is still in the palace." His reasoning, surprisingly, began to convince his sister.

"Alright, you know what? Fine. Let's go get Suki and then we can come back for Aang. But one thing we are not doing is forgetting about Aang. No matter where we go, we will look for Aang," Katara exclaimed, looking at each member, getting their approval and nudging Toph to get hers.

"So it is decided," concluded Sokka. "We will travel to the Stronghold, break out Suki, and then we will return to Ba Sing Se to find Aang. Unless something happens that would change this plan, then it will be adjusted. Is that cool with everyone?" Sokka finished marking the map they have and starts planning how much supplies they will need. "We should be away from the city for around six days and we should be getting to the Stronghold in five. Hopefully, if Zuko's estimations are correct, Suki should be getting there the same day we are. So we will need enough food and water for a week. Katara and Toph, can you all get enough supplies with the money we have for the trip?"

"Sure we can. But what will you and Sparky over there be doing?" Toph asked, pointing to Zuko.

"Oh, we will, uh, be preparing Appa for the trip so that we can leave before dark. You know, so we can get a head start." Sokka smiles and shoos the girls away so that he can start packing up camp.

"Do you think this plan is actually gonna work?" Zuko looks towards Sokka while also helping to pack up the camp.

"I mean, as long as you're correct in your estimations, we should be fine. Let's just hope your crazy sister or anyone else isn't with them when we go to bust her out." Sokka doesn't look at Zuko but knows that he agrees with him.

After a few hours, the girls return with the necessary amounts of supplies and even some food for Appa and Momo. Once they got everything loaded onto Appa, the crew made one final sweep around the camp. Approving that nothing was left behind, they all hopped into Appa's saddle with Katara taking the reins. They lifted off into the cool afternoon air and set off for their next destination: Pohuai Stronghold.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings friends! Welcome to chapter 3! The next few chapters are going to focus on the groundwork for the relationships. Have no fear, plot-related things will be sprinkled in these chapters as well. Please review! Hope you enjoy the chapter!
> 
> I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender!

Aang woke up in a frenzy. He wasn't in chains and was actually in a bed.

Wait, why am I in a bed? And where the fuck am I?

Aang sat up and noticed the room around him; it was a room in the Earth Kingdom. There were green and gold drapes hanging by a large window. Large oak doors led to what he assumed was a bathroom and there was a smaller single door on the other side of the room.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Aang called tried to sit up but couldn't move due to the sheer amount of pain that he felt in his joints and muscles. "Is there anyone there? Hello?" he shouted from his bed. He was so confused that he didn't realize that someone else had entered his room.

"Well would you look at that, the Avatar is awake."

Aang shuttered at the voice. The voice he knew so well. The voice of his captor. The voice of his master. It was the voice of Princess Azula. For some reason, he felt comfort. He felt a slight relief wash over him. At least I'm not dead, he thought to himself.

"Hey, Azula. Do you mind answering me why the fuck I'm not in a prison cell? Oh, and you can also tell me what you are planning and how I fit into all of this? Along with…" Aang looked at the Princess who was looking back at him. The look in her eyes was all telling. If only for a second, she could see genuine concern for him. In that second, he saw her look over him to make sure he was ok.

Ever since making the command to move him, she had been worried. She worried about whether she had gone too far with the torture, or if his body could handle the transfer to the bed and the room. For some reason, she couldn't explain this. Azula was the person who didn't think about others very often. Sure, she had Ty Lee and Mai, but she never felt any kind of concern for another person for as long as she could remember.

Well I guess there's a first time for everything. Azula sighed as she looked at Aang in the eyes. She saw him glaring at her with anger and confusion. On the outside, no one could ever tell this, but Azula had no clue what she was doing. She was totally out of her element.

"Well, to answer your questions, Avatar, you are in a bedroom next to mine. You will be informed of my plan in due time. For now, though, all meals will be served to you. You will not be leaving this room unless accompanied by me and me alone. Any attempts to escape will be dealt with swiftly. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes," the young Avatar responded. "You make yourself very clear, Princess."

"Excellent. Then I will inform the kitchen staff and they will bring us breakfast." Azula moved towards the smaller door in the room which was connected to her room.

"Wait, what the fuck do you mean 'us'?" Aang asked, assuming that he would be eating alone in the room. "I thought you had a city to run." Aang spat at his mistress as she was leaving the room.

Azula sighed and turned around to face him. "I'll have you know that this city is in the best of care. While yes I am in charge, there are a plethora of people who actually run this place." She turns back around to face the door and opens it leaving the boy alone.

Walking towards the kitchen early in the morning was something that Azula usually never did. She usually had all of her meals in the dining hall where she would talk to Ty Lee and Mai or be swamped with paperwork from idiots who needed her opinion on everything. Today was different. There were no early morning chats with her friends around the table or papers. She was simply going to inform a servant that she needed food to be brought back to her room immediately. Hopefully, she was going to be able to do this task without it going off the rails.

And off the rails it went.

"Princess Azula! Princess, can I have a word with you for a moment?"

Running full steam behind her was one of the officials that she had picked to oversee the lower limits of the city. He wasn't very tall nor attractive, but what he lacked in appearance he was supposed to be making up in intellect.

"Yes, minister? What is it that you need right now?" Azula turned around and glared at the short man who was running full speed towards her to try and catch up to her.

"Well I was just asking for your approval on these plans to re-educate and change the curriculum of the current schools in the city. We need to start… reconditioning the kids so that they won't put up a fight when the rest of our forces arrive." The minister held out numerous documents that showed the different ideas for "reconditioning" the youth of Ba Sing Se. Azula, however, did not care about what the minister had to say and simply dismissed him.

Sensing that he wasn't getting any feedback from his plan, Minster Yeo decided to pick a different topic that he could discuss with the Princess. "I heard that someone has moved in next to your room in the palace; is it anyone I would know?"

Azula continued to glare at the Minister and moved towards him, grabbing the collar of his robe. "Minister, you do not need to worry about who is sleeping in the room across from me. What you simply need to focus on are the tasks I gave to you yesterday. Is that clear, Yeo?"

Knowing that she got the message across, Azula stormed off towards the kitchen.

Finally reaching her intended destination, Azula informs the servants that she would like to have breakfast in her room and that they need to bring it up to her immediately. She also informed her to bring enough for two people. Then she left the kitchen and returned to her room, this time not running into anyone in the hallway. Opening her door, she first changed into something that was much more suited to spending the entire day with the Avatar. Her entire plan revolved around getting close to him and having her trust him, which meant learning about him and getting to know him. She decided to change into some elastic pants that hugged her lower half around her butt and hips. They were a deep shade of red that had black stripes running up the sides, deciding to just wear just a simple black long-sleeve tunic. It fitted quite snugly across the chest area. While she didn't have cannons the size of Ty Lee, she was not lacking in that department. Putting on her slip on shoes, she opened the door and was not pleased with what she saw on the other side.

WHERE THE FUCK DID HE GO?! Azula was internally screaming and was looking around the room to try and find any trace of her prisoner. She couldn't find any evidence of him escaping. Looking around, she spotted the curtains had moved from their normal position.

No...No..NO…He wouldn't just jump out of the window. Would he?

Azula walked towards the window and was relieved to find that it was still closed and the lathes had not been tampered with by the Airbender. Sighing in relief, Azula made her way back to the middle of the room to try and find him.

Maybe he's in the bathroom getting cleaned up. SHIT! I didn't get him any clothes! Azula facepalmed at her oversight and went to try and find him some clothes. Maybe we didn't throw away all his clothing from when I captured him. I'll have to check that later, but right now I need to get him something to…

Azula was rudely interrupted from her thoughts when she saw the teenager step out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel wrapped low on his waist. She had to admit, he was quite the sight to behold. Even after weeks of being strapped from a ceiling with little food, water, or movement, he was still just as muscular and built as he was the day he was moved to his cell.

Sure Azula had seen him like this numerous times throughout him being her prisoner, but this was definitely different. He was standing at his full height, his body totally upright, showing off his impressive height. He was also still slightly wet which gave him a slight glisten. She couldn't stop looking at him. What she could do was notice the blush that was slowly creeping onto both of their faces the longer they both looked at each other.

"A-azula!" Aang sputtered. "What are you doing here?!" Aang was clearly not expecting Azula to just walk into his room unannounced like this.. Shit, what am I supposed to do now? I'm in a fucking towel just staring at her. And when did she get so hot?' As soon as that last thought crossed his mind, his blush suddenly went deeper across his face.

"Well, I had originally come to tell you that breakfast was being brought to the room…" She blushed deeper. "But it appears I caught you at a rather unpleasant time." Azula turned around and walked towards his bed to avoid looking at him while he was naked. She looked on the floor to find some dirty sleep clothes that the servants had put him in the night before laying on the floor and sighed.

"I'll have to buy you some clothing since I'm guessing you have nothing but a towel and dirty sleepwear." Azula moved from his bed to his dresser, only to confirm that nothing was inside of it.

"I mean, I could just wear a towel for the rest of my life, but I guess you wouldn't really like that considering the fact that I'm supposed to help you win the war now." Aang smirked and walked towards the bed, laying there and watching the Princess move around the room.

"I have a dress that you could wear, but you will look ridiculous," Azula suggested while walking towards the door that connected both their rooms. Wait, since when did I care about his feelings and how he would look?

Across the room, Aang was just as shocked and surprised for what the Princess said. Why is she...being nice to me? I'm her prisoner right? Aang was at this point confused. He just couldn't read Azula and he hated it; but something about it made him feel excited for some weird, twisted reason. With Katara, sure, she had been motherly and overbearing, but she was sometimes annoying. With Azula, she said something and it had some sort of moxy and power to it. Whenever she said something, one had to listen to what was being said, and he loved it.

What am I thinking? She's the enemy.

While Aang was distracted, Azula had left to get him something to wear. She had returned with a large black and red dress-like robe that would cover him until they could go shopping.

"Here you go, Avatar." She tossed the article of clothing at him and turned around while he put it on. "Put this on. Once we eat breakfast, the four of us will go get you clothes."

"Wait, four? Who are the other two?" Aang asked while trying to put on his clothes.

"Well, Ty Lee and Mai of course. If I have to suffer then so should they." Azula turned around to see that Aang was dressed and then heard a knock at the door, signaling for this eventful day to begin.  
======================================================================================================

For most people, riding on a sky bison would have been a very pleasant and serene experience. From just the quietness and the scenery alone, it would have been a relaxing ride. However, for this group, it was anything but quiet and calm.

"Ughh! When can we land?! We've been up here for hours!" Toph groaned as she leaned on the back of the saddle trying to get comfortable.

"Toph, fuck off,"Sokka shot back. "We've only been up here for like six hours. We have to be flying for a while until we can land. We only have four more days to get to Suki. We would have had four and a half but someone decided to spend all morning at the market." He looked back from his position on the head of Appa and glared at his sister who was practicing her Waterbending in the middle of the saddle.

"Well, I have an idea for how we can pass the time," Zuko spoke up from his position in the saddle.

"Oh yeah, and what's that Sparky?" Toph asked snarkily from her side of the saddle.

"Let's play twenty-one questions." Zuko said. He moved to form a circle in the center of the saddle.

"Actually, that sounds kinda fun. I'm down if everyone else is," Katara replied as she bends her water back into the kanteen and sits next to Zuko.

"Fuck it. Let's play." Toph shifted her body to face the group and sat next to Katara.

"I can't, guys,"said Sokka. "Someone has to get us to a campsite."

"Get your ass over here, Snoozles," Toph barked.

"Ugh, fine,"Sokka groaned. "Appa, just keep heading straight."

Appa groans at the command as Sokka makes his way over to his friends.

"Okay, I'll go first. What's everyone's favorite color?" Zuko asked the group.

"Mine has gotta be dark blue," Katara explained, holding up her tunic.

"Gotta be silver for me," Sokka said, holding up his boomerang.

"Toph what about you? Don't you have a favorite color?" Zuko looked at the blind girl sitting across from him.

"Well Sparky, I would have thought about that, she sneered. Oh wait, I can't because I'M BLIND, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

Zuko sighed as he realized his problem and the rest of the group just laughed as the Prince apologized.

"I got one!" Katara exclaimed. "What's everyone's favorite food?"

"It would have to be mom's grilled seal." Sokka's mouth waters as he thinks back on the memories he had with his meat.

"I don't know, it would probably have to be something Sugar Queen has made. I didn't really like the food that was served at my house."

"I would have to agree with you, Toph," Zuko said. "Living on a boat for three years and then being poor in the Earth Kingdom can't really get you much."

"Awww Zuko," Katara smiled. "Toph, that means a lot to know that someone actually enjoys what I make for dinner," Katara added, happily looking at the two.

"Alright, my turn; since Twinkle Toes isn't here, what does everyone hate about him?" Toph said with a smile, knowing she made everyone in the group fluster.

"I guess I don't like how he trapped my boat in ice and nearly killed me in that fire temple that one time. Or that other time when he-" Zuko was about to continue when Katara hit him across the head.

"Yes we get it, Aang has nearly killed you. We were there," Sokka said to the Prince. "I would probably have to say he can be a bit preachy on morals sometimes."

"Mine has gotta be his lack of a backbone. He just lets anyone push him around. He's also not the greatest Earthbender," Toph explained.

"I guess mine is that everything comes so easy to him. Like I get it, he's the Avatar, but like, sometimes he's so smug when he Waterbends," Katara said softly.

"Alright, I guess I'll go," Sokka spoke up. "If you could bend any other element, which one would you bend?"

"I think Air would be really cool," Zuko pondered, looking at his hands. "There's so much stuff you can do with it."

"I would love to be able to bend metal. OH WAIT, I ALREADY CAN," Toph yelled at everyone and crushed a nearby metal can into a small box.

"Fuck you, Toph." Katara blurted, glaring at the Earthbender. "Fire would be useful to learn, I guess."

"It sucks," Zuko said to Katara. "There's no defense, only offense; you have to rely on yourself for defense."

"Well, anyway, I have a question; who is everyone's crush?" Toph said with a smirk on her face.

"For me it's gotta be Suki," Sokka says with a smug look on his face.

"Yeah, no shit it's Suki," Katara joked, laughing. "She's your fucking girlfriend."

"Oh yeah? Who's your crush, Katara?" Sokka fires back at his sister, causing her to stiffen.

"I...I don't have a crush right now. Nope, no crushes here," Katatra stammered.

"I don't have one either," Zuko said with his normal look. However, both were lying to the group. Zuko was much better at hiding his, though.

"Alright, fine, I don't have one either. I'm not really the relationship type of person." Toph explained.

This game went on for some amount of time. Toph would try to expose everyone and Sokka would just be an idiot and ask the dumbest questions imaginable. After a while, it was starting to get dark and they had to find a plot of land to camp on. Sokka had returned to the head of Appa and was leaning on the back of the saddle. Zuko was currently looking at the sleeping girl in his lap. Katara had fallen asleep toward the end of the game and had decided to use Zuko as a pillow.

"Alright guys, we're about to land. I found us some nice land to camp at for the night," Sokka called from the front of Appa, who was currently descending towards the ground.

"Ugh, finally. I thought we were never gonna land." Toph stands up and stretches as she jumps off of Appa and onto the ground where she can see again.

Sokka also gets off of Appa and starts unloading when he sees Katara asleep in Zuko's lap and smirks. No crush, my right buttcheek.

Zuko shifted a little trying to get up and caused Katara to wake up. Realizing that she was laying on him, she jumped and with a start and immediately started to blush, causing Zuko to blush in return.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep on you. I won't do it again," Katara hastily apologized to him, starting to get out of the saddle.

"Hey, it's fine, don't worry about it." Zuko was also blushing a deep red and was running his hand through his hair. He had never been in this awkward of a conversation in his life and he had no clue what to do. I can't just say I liked it. That would be weird.

"Uh, we should probably get off and go help the others. We don't want them to get suspicious." Zuko starts climbing off of Appa, leaving Katara alone.

To her chagrin, Katara climbs down from the saddle and starts to get everything ready to cook dinner. She wasn't all that focused on what she was making and just put what she could find into the pot with some rice and water with some other seasonings and broths. She couldn't stop thinking about Toph's crush question. I couldn't possibly have a crush on Zuko...could I? However, she would soon come to realize how very wrong she was.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings and salutations to all, and welcome to chapter 4! Hope you all enjoy this one, it's definitely more groundwork for the relationships. Don't worry, I have not forgotten about the plot and it will be pulling out of the station next chapter. Please Enjoy!
> 
> I still do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Darkness.

All Suki could see and feel was darkness. She had no clue where she was. All she knew was that it was dark, and that she was moving. She couldn't tell where she was moving to, but she knew that she was moving somewhere.

Ugh, where am I? How did I get here? Where am I going? All thoughts that were racing through her head. She needed to find a way out, but any movement was restricted by the rope around her wrists and ankles. She had no choice but to stay put.

Suki spent most of her time like this trying to remember how she had gotten into this situation. The most that she could remember was fighting against Azula and her stupid little entourage of girls. She remembered fighting with the other Kyoshi Warriors and saving the Avatar's beast, Appa. Then she remembered getting thrown into this iron box and only leaving it to use the bathroom and eat. She was grateful that she was not dead. She just hoped she got to her destination alive and mostly intact. All she knew so far was that this was going to be a very rocky ride.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Ty Lee and Mai had been waiting for the pair in the foyer for the better part of half an hour. They had received notices from the Princess saying that they were all going into town to do some shopping and had gathered at the foyer of the palace so that they could leave.

"Ugh! Where could they be?" Mai asked, starting to get impatient. "We've been standing here waiting for them for the past forty minutes. They should definitely be here by now."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that Zula is still up in her room, so we can probably just go there and check," Ty Lee suggested as she was also starting to get impatient and wanted to go shopping.

"Anything beats waiting here for them," Mai agreed.

Her and Ty Lee started walking towards the main staircase of the palace. They were going to go find the Princess. While the Palace itself was a very large compound, the living quarters were in the relative center of it. All their rooms were within a short walk of each other. It didn't take very long for the two to find Azula's room.

"Well, this is it," Ty Lee said, pointing to the door in front of them. "Azula should be right behind that-"

She was cut off by Mai who had placed a finger to the acrobat's lips, silencing them. "Do you hear that?" Mai asked, leaning her ear towards the door, listening for noises.

"No, I don't hear anything...What are you getting at?" Ty Lee looked at Mai confused.

"Exactly; they aren't in there. But I did hear noise coming from the room right next to hers when we were walking up here," Mai explained while walking towards the room next to Azula's. "Maybe they are in here. Do you know who sleeps here?"

"No," Ty Lee said. "Zula hasn't told me anything about getting a neighbor in the Palace. Maybe they will be really nice!" The acrobat started jumping around excitedly. She followed Mai and opened the door after hearing muffled voices behind it.

A few moments earlier...

The two had been eating breakfast peacefully for the better part of 20 minutes. They were having a breakfast of fried dough powdered lightly with sugar, a fruit bowl, and some roasted duck slices. Everything was going smoothly until Aang didn't touch the roasted duck.

"Avatar, why have you not eaten your roasted duck?" Azula asked, looking at him and placing down her fork.

"As an Airbender, I don't eat other living creatures," Aang replies, looking at the Princess in front of him. "We believed that all living things are sacred, so I don't eat meat."

"I demand that you eat the duck, Avatar," Azula declared, glaring at the boy, who just looked at her blankly.

"No," he states firmly. "I will not eat it. I've never even had it before so I have no clue what it even tastes like." He pushes the plate away from himself.

Azula, being fed up with this nonsense, grabs the plate and makes a move towards Aang, knocking him onto his back on the bed. She grabs the plate of food and moves to a straddling position on top of him.

"You will eat this food, Avatar!" She moves him so that he is leaning on the backboard of the bed and grabs a piece of duck on the fork.

"I...I won't eat the duck, Azula," Aang pleads. He didn't know what to do. Azula was on top of him at this point and he couldn't think straight. This was the closest she'd ever been to him and he was starting to blush.

What the fuck do I do? Is that perfume she's wearing? His heart was beating fast.

Azula noticed this and started getting flustered. "Ava-AANG, JUST EAT THE FUCKING DUCK!" she screamed as she took the fork and shoved it into the boy's open mouth. Shit, I just called him by his name. What is wrong with me?

Did she just call me Aang? What is happening? Aang didn't know what was happening. He had a piece of roasted duck in his mouth (which he honestly didn't think tasted that bad). Most importantly, he still had Azula straddling him. Has she always been this attractive? I mean, damn, just look at those eyes.

He was mesmerized by Azula. He hadn't noticed how hot she looked. From the way that her hair flowed down to her shoulders to how pronounced all of her curves were. What she was wearing also wasn't helping him much. The way that she was sitting in his lap was causing the tunic to pull, causing more flesh to be revealed then intended. When did she get hot? Has she always been this hot? When did her boobs get like that? I think she has bigger boobs than Katara. HOLY SHIT! WHY AM I STILL LOOKING AT HER BOOBS?

His mind at this point was a pile of mush. His face was as red as a tomato and Azula wasn't looking any better.

Wow, his abs are really hard. And those eyes are just so…mysterious. I could look into them all day. He's just so hot. The longer Azula was looking at him the redder her face got.

Mai came in, looked at the two people in bed, and smirked at them. She cleared her throat loudly. "We were supposed to go shopping today? I hope we didn't interrupt anything between you both."

Both Aang and Azula looked at each other and instinctively flinched away from each other. These sudden actions caused Aang to fall off of his bed and onto the hardwood floor.

"Well, I must have forgotten the time. We should get a move on, right, Avatar?" Azula dusted herself off and straightened out her tunic, readjusting it around her chest and walking towards the door as though nothing had ever happened.

Aang was still sitting on the floor while the three girls made their way to the door of the room. Wow. How does she go from blushing back to normal Azula? Damn, that's hot.

"Are you coming, Avatar?" Azula asked with a smirk on her face.

"Yes, Azula. I'm coming." Aang got up from his place on the floor, slipped on his slippers, and walked out the door of his room.

Shopping with Azula was an interesting experience to say the least. She was very well known in Ba Sing Se, so she had to disguise herself. Aang, being the avatar with big bright blue arrows, also had to disguise himself much to his chagrin. Mai and Ty Lee were, surprisingly, having a blast. They were constantly making fun of the Princess and the Avatar because of how unhappy both of them looked.

"Alright, Avatar, you need training clothes." Azula grabbed the boy and pulled into another clothing store.

"Azula, what's the point of being in disguise if you are just gonna call me that?" Aang asked as he allowed her to drag him into the store.

"Because I can do whatever I want, Avatar," Azula said as she saw the store clerk walk over to them.

"I mean he does have a point, Azula," Mai commented as she was looking for some training outfits for herself. "It would blow your cover if you keep saying his name."

"I think that Aang is a very cute name!" Ty Lee shouted, snuggling up next to Aang, grabbing his arm.

"Ty Lee, stop help find Aang clothing." Azula didn't even realize that she had said his name this time.

Aang, who had noticed that she said his name, started to blush a little bit and looked at Azula who was grabbing some articles of clothing. What is her deal? It's like she keeps switching between soft and warm to cold and icy. It's so weird. And she's being generally nicer to me then the others. Aang was lost in thought about Azula. He just couldn't put a finger on how she was acting and it kind of excited him. He loved not knowing what was next.

"Here, Avatar, go on and try these outfits on and report back to me once you have." Azula handed him a mountain of clothing which caused him to snap back to reality. He took the clothes and went off to find a changing room leaving Azula alone to her thoughts.

Why is this happening? It's like every time I try to shut off my emotions towards him, I fail. And why is he so hot? Azula let out a soft but audible groan and cupped her face into her hands.

"It's the boy, isn't it?"

The sudden voice caused Azula to jump slightly and look around to see where the voice had come from. She eventually found an elderly woman who she had recognized as the store clerk walked towards her and sat down.

"He is very cute I must say. You look to be frustrated at something and it definitely doesn't look to be the prices in this store, leading me to believe that you are frustrated at him or yourself." The elderly women spoke to the Princess, who caused her to sigh in defeat.

"So maybe it is about him… I don't know what to do." Azula looked at the elderly women next to her. "He just makes me so different and I don't understand why or how."

"Well, feelings make us do some weird things, young one. And judging from how you normally act to right now, these are some pretty strong feelings, are they not?"

"I've never felt anything like this before. I don't even know much about him. I...I just don't know what to do." Azula sighed. "So much for being a hardened warrior of the Fire Nation."

"Don't worry yourself, my Princess. We all have a weakness; you just found yours. But remember, sometimes our greatest weaknesses can turn into our greatest strengths." The clerk saw Aang come back with the clothing and chuckled to herself.

"Yeah, you might be right," admitted Azula. "Wait...how did you know I was the Princess?" Azula looked at the only woman.

"I lived in the Fire Nation for many years. Only royalty wear that perfume. Also, if you're gonna be walking around, try not to wear such expensive fabrics and not walk around with a boy who has blue tattoos on his hands. Speaking of which, he's coming over to you." The elderly women pointed to him walking back.

"I guess I'll have to try harder next time," said Azula. "Thank you."

She sighed, got up to meet Aang, and asked which clothes he is going to have her buy.

"I think they would actually be really cute together. Don't you agree Mai?" Ty Lee asked the assassin who was standing next to her, watching the two purchase Aang's clothing.

"Actually, I think that they could be a really good couple. Aang just needs to get a backbone. But they could definitely work out," Mai commented while walking towards the exit.

"Yeah. They really could," Ty Lee said, walking to the exit behind Mai who was already waiting with Azula and Aang.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Katara couldn't sleep. She had had a very long day after getting off of Appa and doing some light training after dinner; but she couldn't sleep. She needed to do something with her body, so she got up from her tent and decided to go on a walk.

"Going somewhere, Sweetness?" Toph asked, standing in front of the Waterbender.

"Toph? What the fuck are you doing up?" Katara exclaimed.

"Well, I could ask you the same thing now, couldn't I? It's not like you to just sneak away from camp on your own."

"Well, for your information, I was just going out for a walk. I couldn't sleep." Katara started to walk past the girl.

"Mind if I join you?" Toph suggested. "I got nothing else better to do." Toph started to follow her out of camp.

"Sure," Katara said simply.

The pair continued to walk down a path and found a path leading to a small river. The water was shimmering in the moonlight. It was a rather pretty spot and they decided to rest here for a while. Katara had a lot on her mind and was staring into the water. Her eyes weren't focusing on any one detail...she just looked into the water.

What is this feeling? she thought to herself. Why does it feel so...nice? It felt so comfortable to sleep in his lap today, and I loved it. He was my enemy for so long and now-

"You're thinking about Sparky, aren't you?" Toph spoke, drawing Katara from her thoughts.

"What? No, I…I wasn't thinking about him at all. Why would you even think something like that?" Katara sputtered as she started blushing.

"Katara, I might be blind, but I'm not an idiot. Your heart is beating really fast." Toph smirked. "And it's getting even faster."

"Okay, fine," Katara admitted. "So what if I was? Why do you care?" She turned so that she was looking at the Earthbender.

"First off, I don't. Second, you just seem confused about something."

"I'm not confused about anything," Katara stated defiantly.

"Wow, you are really bad at lying, Sugar Queen. Like, REALLY bad at it," Toph laughed as her friend blushed even more.

"Toph, just fuck off, ok?" Katara shouted at the girl.

"Well, aren't you pleasant in the middle of the night? And here I was trying to help your ass. Nope." Toph gets up and starts to walk away.

"Toph, wait," Katara called out. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have yelled at you. Please come back," she added timidly, making the Earthbender smile.

"Alright, so are you gonna tell me what is bothering you or are we just gonna stand here in the middle of the night?" Toph crossed her arms and sat back down.

"When I was asleep in the saddle today, I felt so comfortable in his lap," Katara explained. "It felt like I was protected; like nothing bad would ever happen to me when I was with him."

"I think someone has a crush on Zuko."

"No, I can't have a crush on him," Katara said quickly. "I have to remember that he was my enemy."

"Well, by the way your heart is beating, I think you do have a crush on him," Toph laughed as Katara grimaced.

"He probably doesn't even like me back. So it doesn't even matter that I like him. He probably has plenty of girls that are falling for him."

"Well, maybe you should try to woo him over. I don't really know how you would do that, but you can try. Maybe ask Suki when we find her. But what I do know is that you shouldn't beat yourself up over this. Sparky is not worth a sad Katara," Toph said to her friend, putting her hand on her shoulder.

"Do you really mean all that, Toph?" Katara asked, looking at her friend, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Yes," Toph answered. "You're my friend and I'm always here for you."

"Oh, thank you, Toph! You're the best," Katara said, hugging her and making her squirm.

"Hey now, wait a minute," Toph warned, "I never said anything about a fucking hug. Now get off of me." She tried to get out of Katara's embrace.

"We should probably get back to camp before anyone wakes up and notices that we are gone," Toph said as she started to stand up and walk away.

"Yeah, that's a really good idea. We don't want to worry the boys," Katara said as she got up from her spot on the river bank and began to follow her friend back to camp.

By the time they both got back to camp, the sky was still mostly dark, but had a few rays of dark blue in it. Both girls said their good nights and went to their tents. When Katara got back to her tent, she swiftly went to sleep and was content. She was actually looking forward to what the next few days would bring.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello friends, and welcome to Chapter 5! I have to say, this chapter was my favorite to write so far. I hope that you all enjoy it as much as I did. Please like and review, it would mean the world to me. In the mean time, please enjoy!
> 
> I still do not own Avatar!

"Alright, is someone going to explain to me what the fuck I'm reading and how the fuck I didn't hear about this earlier?"

"Well, my Princess, it is a report that we got from a village a couple day's travel from Ba Sing Se. It reports that one of the Avatar's traveling companions was spotted in the village buying supplies for a trip," an Earth Kingdom minister stated. "The report also says that she was spotted leaving on a sky bison. We have reason to believe that they are heading towards Pohuai Stronghold."

"Do we know of any reasons as to why they would be traveling there? Or are you that incompetent that you don't have a reason?" Azula said while sitting behind a desk in the palace.

"We have reason to believe that they are following a prisoner transport carrying one of their allies: a girl by the name of Suki. She is the leader of a group named the Kyoshi Warriors. They have been known to work with the Avatar on numerous occasions."

"Huh, it seems that you can in fact do your job," Azula responded. "Is there any way that we can catch up to them? Or slow down the prison caravan?" she continued without looking up at the minister in front of her.

"We have two options: one is the train that usually takes cargo to the fortress which will get you there either the day before the prisoners arrive or the day of. There is also the use of eel hounds which will get you there a day in advance. Which would you prefer, my Princess?"

"How long will the trip be?"

"It will be a three to four day train ride or a three day eel ride, Princess."

Azula sat in thought for a moment before giving her answer. "Ready the eel hounds. We will leave at 4 PM." Azula sighed. She had expected that something like this would happen...just not this fast.

"Yes, my Princess. It will be done." The minister left the room leaving only Azula in it.

This should be fun. I finally get another chance to possibly see the filth that is Zuko. Azula smiled, exited her study, and started to walk down to the dining hall. It was almost time for lunch and she had to inform the group as to where they were going to go. Shit, how am I going to explain it to Aang? Oh well...I'll just lie.

While Azula was in her meeting, Aang was out on the palace grounds sparring with Mai. Aang liked to take advantage of his time and spent most of it training. His injuries had mostly healed from his time as a prisoner and he was starting to get back to his normal form. Mai, on the other hand, was just thankful for something else to do. Ty Lee was getting far too predictable for her liking and she needed a new challenge, so she was more than happy to spar with the Avatar.

"Your maneuverability seems to be back to normal, Aang," Mai said as she dodged one of the head-sized rocks that was being hurled at her. "It seems like your injuries are almost healed."

"Thanks," he replied, stomping his foot against the ground and simultaneously flicking his fingers, causing a ripple effect in the earth beneath Mai's feet, making her off balance. "I guess all I needed was some rest and food."

Mai jumped to stable ground and began to pelt the boy with sharp wooden stilettos which he blocked by making a stone barrier in front of his body. Aang then pushed the barrier into Mai, knocking her to the ground.

"Yeah, I guess that is all you needed," Mai commented while still being on the ground. "But you should always be on your toes."

Before Aang could react, Mai had already flipped to her feet and had thrown several different sized blades at him. Instinctively, Aang jumped into the air, utilized his Airbending and sent a torrent of air towards the assassin causing her to slam into a nearby wall. Seeing that his opponent was incapacitated, Aang used Earthbending to encase Mai in a tight rock grip.

Seeing that she couldn't move or get out of this rock, Mai was forced to admit defeat. "Alright, you got me," she spoke in a defeated tone. "Now, let me out of here before I actually kill you."

Aang smirked, released her from her restraints, and started walking towards her. "Are you saying that for the past twenty minutes you weren't even trying? Jeez, Mai, you're worse than Azula." He helped her up and they both started walking towards the palace.

"You know, I'm actually shocked you haven't tried to escape. Why is that?" Mai spoke as they walked into the palace.

"If I tried to escape, there wouldn't be anywhere for me to go, or a way for me to get there," Aang explained. "My staff was destroyed, and if you've noticed, I don't exactly keep a flying bison in my pocket. If I did escape, I would just be captured, and I really don't feel like having lightning coursing through my body or being burned alive again."

"Hm, that would make sense," Mai said, looking at the Avatar and trying to read him. Finding nothing that pointed to his statement being a lie, she accepted it. "I would also guess that it has something to do with Azula."

This statement caused the boy to blush, earning a smirk from the assassin.

"W-what about her?" Aang asked timidly.

"Oh, nothing. It's just the fact that you always blush when you're around her or someone even mentions her name. It's quite funny."

"Wow, that sounds strange coming from Ms. Doom-and-Gloom. I didn't even know you cared," Aang said, beginning to laugh at his joke but suddenly stopping when he saw her clutching a knife at his side. "Alright, point taken: don't laugh at the girl who carries sharp knives."

Satisfied with his resolve, Mai put her knife away, but not before twirling it around her finger.

The pair reached the dining hall and saw that only Ty Lee was there. They said their greetings and took their seats at the large table.

"Where do you think Zula is?" Ty Lee spoke from her seat. "She's usually not late."

"Maybe she got held up in a meeting or something," Aang replied while Airbending the silverware in front of him.

"See, there you go, blushing again," Mai said from her seat, looking at Aang.

"Oh my gosh, you are blushing," Ty Lee exclaimed, pointing at him and gawking.

"Why do you guys care so much?" Aang asked the two girls.

"Aang likes Azula! Aang likes Azula! Aang likes-"

"Ty Lee, can you please not say that so loudly!" Aang interrupted, blushing a deeper shade. "I don't like her like that. I don't know if we are even friends." He sounded and looked defeated.

"Aww, don't look so sad, Aang," Ty Lee spoke in a comforting tone. "I'm sure she thinks of you as a friend."

"Or, at the very least, she probably sees you as an acquaintance," Mai added, trying to lighten the mood.

"I guess," Aang muttered. "I haven't really done anything bad in the past..." Suddenly, a thought came to him. "Wait, how long have I even been here?" he asked, looking at his fingers, trying to count the weeks.

"You've been here for maybe a month and you've been staying in a room for two weeks," Mai answered in her usual monotone voice.

"Wow, I've really been here for a month," Aang said. "It honestly doesn't even feel like it's been that long." He sighed and looked down at his hands. " And I guess I'm not getting rescued by my friends because they would have tried to do it by now...they probably forgot about me."

"Well, Aang, you don't have to worry about them anymore because at the very least..." Ty Lee grabbed his hand and held it. "...I'm your friend and so is Mai."

"Yeah, sure. Whatever," replied the assassin.

"Aww, thanks, guys," Aang said, looking at the two girls with a sparkle in his eyes. "You really mean that?"

"Of course I mean it, silly!" Ty Lee exclaimed while she hugged Aang. "And so does Mai."

"Aw, well, isn't that just touching."

Azula was walking through the room and took a seat next to Mai. "I guess you've warmed up to everyone rather quickly. Even Mai is enjoying your company, Avatar," Azula added, smirking at the boy sitting directly across from her.

"Yeah, I guess I have," Aang replied feebly.

After a few minutes of waiting, servers began to bring out lunches for everyone. Aang received the same food as everyone but put his meat on Ty Lee's plate. Doing this caused Azula to frown, but she moved past it.

After everyone was settled in, Azula decided that now was the time to announce that they were leaving soon.

"We have been needed in Pohuai Stronghold," Azula said, looking at the group in front of her.

"Why are we going there?" Ty Lee wondered, looking at the Princess. "That's, like, super far away."

"There seems to be concern of a prisoner being broken out by some rebel forces," Azula continued. "Therefore, I have elected to have us four go and make sure that doesn't happen. We will leave in two hours after this meal is done."

"How are we going to get there?" Aang asked while continuing to eat his food. "I don't have a staff or Appa, so I can't transport you there."

"We will be traveling on eel hounds," Azula responded promptly. "The trip will take two nights, so pack light. We leave in two hours. Each of you will be getting your own hound. Is that ok with everyone?"

"Yeah, sounds like fun!" Ty Lee answered, smiling. "I'm just excited that I get to get out of this stuffy palace."

"I don't care," Mai said bluntly while placing her silverware onto her plate. "As long as I get to do something."

Aang was quiet. He didn't know what he should do. He didn't want to upset Azula, but he also didn't want to seem left out of the group.

"Well, Avatar," said Azula, "what's your opinion? Not that you really have a choice in the matter."

"Oh, I, um..." Aang starts to blush, earning a giggle from Ty Lee and a smirk from Mai.

Azula, on the other hand, also blushed and got up from the table, walking away before he could answer. "Just be in front of the palace gates in two hours," Azula said quickly as she exited the room.

Man, he is adorable when he gets flustered like that, she thought. UGH, what am I thinking? I can't think about him like that.

She walked through the palace towards her room, thinking about Aang and how this mission was going to affect him.

Ugh! Why am I thinking about his emotions? All that matters is that that stupid girl doesn't end up with his friends. His emotions mean nothing…right?

As she entered her room to start packing, the words of the old lady started ringing in her ears:

Sometimes our greatest weaknesses can turn into our greatest strengths.

Azula sat on her bed and thought to herself about what that lady could mean. She sat there thinking until a servant came to let her know that the eel hounds were ready for them. She walked down to the palace gates and saw that Mai, Ty Lee, and Aang were all there.

"Well, I say we get going," Ty Lee said while getting onto her hound. "We don't want to be late."

"You would be correct, Ty Lee," Azula said as she hoisted herself onto the lead hound.

"How do you ride one of these things?" Aang asked while struggling to get onto his hound.

"Wow, Avatar, you are the most powerful person in the world and you can't even figure out a simple anime," Azula retorted as she started moving forward on her hound.

"Yeah, well, I've never really ridden on anything other than a sky bison before," Aang reasoned.

"Just hold the reins and hit them," Ty Lee explained. "He should just move with the rest of us." She tried to show Aang how to ride the beast that he was sitting on.

Azula was at the front of the group leading them but turned around to look at Aang being helped by Ty Lee. Their eyes met for a second, causing Aang to blush and Azula to smirk. Turning back around to face forward, she sighed while also blushing. "Maybe he is my greatest weakness."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Sokka and Zuko were moving through a crowded market place. They were looking for some extra food because they had lost some along the trip and needed more.

"So much for not needing to buy supplies," Zuko mumbled under his breath as he moved around people in the market.

"Well, it's not my fault you decided to practice your Firebending in the middle of the fucking night," Sokka replied while holding a list of foods that Katara said they needed to replace. "Especially this close to the end of the trip. We only have two more days till we get to the Stronghold. You just HAD to blow up our food."

"Hey, I said I was sorry, okay?" Zuko said. "I couldn't sleep last night."

"Any reason as to why? You usually wake up early," Sokka said while paying for some of the things on his list.

"I don't know," Zuko replied while looking for some rice. "I guess I just had a lot of things on my mind last night."

"A lot of things like what?" Sokka asked after thanking the merchant. He started to leave his stall and moved towards where Zuko was in the stall next to him.

"I don't remember anymore," Zuko admitted. "I kinda just blocked it out and focused on my breathing and technique for my bending." He handed the bag of rice to the merchant and paid for it. "I don't know what it would have even been about."

The pair were walking towards the exit of the market when an old man from one of the last stalls started shouting at them.

"GENTLEMEN, GENTLEMEN, PLEASE COME OVER!"

"What's his deal?" Sokka asked while pointing to the man.

"I don't know, but we should probably go see what he wants before we draw anymore attention to ourselves," Zuko replied while walking towards the man.

When the boys arrived, they were greeted by an old man in his mid-seventies wearing very expensive robes and multiple rings. He smelled of very high-end fragrances and had his gray hair covered in a golden head covering made out of expensive fabrics.

"You boys look like you both go home to beautiful women. Maybe you should pick them both up something, hm?" The merchant suggested as he gestured to all the high-end jewelry that he was selling.

"I mean, we are seeing Suki for the first time in months," Sokka admitted, examining the jewelry. "Maybe I should buy her something nice."

"I think I'll pass on buying jewelry," said Zuko. "I don't really have anyone to give it to." He walked towards the exit of the tent.

"Aww, come on man," pleaded Sokka. "There's gotta be someone you can buy something for. Maybe you should buy something for Katara...I'm sure she would like it," he added smugly, making the Prince blush.

"No," Zuko said flatly while leaving the tent. He decided to sit on a rock outside of it.

Maybe I should go buy her something, he reckoned. I mean, what should I even get her? Maybe a new necklace or something? She doesn't seem like a ring kind of person. Ugh! What would Uncle do?

Zuko sat on the rock for what seemed like hours. He was only pulled out of his trance-like state by Sokka shaking him.

"Dude, you okay?" Sokka asked with concern on his face. "I've been calling your name for the past, like, eight minutes."

Zuko looked at his friend and sighed as he got up from his stop. "Yes, I am fine. Now let's go back to camp." He started walking back to the group's campsite, not waiting for Sokka to follow him.

They returned to camp to find that Katara was cooking them dinner and Toph was out practicing her Earthbending nearby.

As soon as Katara saw Zuko, she blushed and looked back at what she was originally doing. Ugh I hate how hot he is. No, he doesn't like me like that. I have to get him out of my head.

Zuko looked at Katara who was blushing and also slightly blushed. He walked towards his tent, but was brought out by Sokka who informed him that dinner was ready. He got out and ate the food that Katara had made.

The group was relatively quiet; only talking about what they all did today. Zuko found out that both Katara and Toph spent most of their day training with the other. Sokka told them all about the necklace that he had gotten for Suki and showed it to them.

It had a very thin chain and had a green gemstone on it. It was perfect for someone who moved around a lot.

After dinner, they all went their separate ways. Zuko went back to his tent and sat there, trying to focus on his breathing. He was waiting for everyone to go to sleep.

Once he was sure that everyone was sleeping, the Prince got out of his tent and started walking back towards the market.

Alright, this merchent had better still fucking be there, or I'm gonna be fucked.

Zuko walked for a short while until he saw the shop he was trying to reach. When he finally reached the tent, he sighed as he saw that the old man was still there, seemingly waiting for him.

"Ah, my friend," The merchant said as Zuko entered the tent. "I had a feeling that I would be seeing you again."

"Yeah, I guess," he mumbled, looking for the right thing to get for Katara.

"So, who are you shopping for today?" The merchant asked while looking over Zuko's shoulder.

"A girl I know," Zuko replied while scanning over the necklaces. "She really likes shades of blue, if that helps any."

"Shades of blue, huh?" The merchant rubbed his chin before walking over to the back of the shop. "I think I have just the thing for you."

He moved a few crates and pulled out a ring. The ring had a dark blue gemstone wrapped around a sliver band. The ring itself was very small but was also very elegant in its design. "This ring was created in the Northern Water Tribe," he explained. "The stone in the center is said to have belonged to a beautiful princess of a forgotten age. This ring is very old and there's only one like it in the entire world."

The merchant gave the ring to Zuko who held it in his palm.

"It's absolutely beautiful," Zuko said, as he took a closer look at it. "How much would something like this cost?" He started reaching into his pocket and started pulling out the coins in his pocket. He accidentally dropped some, one of which was a White Lotus tile piece from a Pai Sho game his Uncle Iroh gave him.

The merchant saw the tile and instantly knew who gave it to Zuko.

This must be Iroh's nephew. I owe the man my life. The least I can do is give him this ring.

"Hmm," The old merchant said, stroking his chin, seeming lost in thought. "I would normally sell something as rare and exquisite to someone for 800 gold pieces. But, for you...I think I'll give it to you for free."

It's the least I can do, my old friend.

Shock took over Zuko's face. "For free? You can't be serious. I can't accept something like this for free. I just can't do that."

The merchant just laughed as he saw the Prince fumble for gold to try and compensate for the ring that he was giving him. "Oh, young man, I'm giving you this ring. I know this is a surprise, but please take it. I only ask that you tell me who you are going to give this ring to."

Zuko looked at the merchant and blushed slightly. He had never really thought of Katara like that. Sure, he thought that she was extremely nice and she cared a great deal for him. Hell, she even attempted to heal his scar. She had only met him and she had offered to heal him. Not to mention she was the one who got Sokka to stop Appa so that he could get away from his crazy sister. Katara was the only one who accepted him into the group with no hesitation. Sokka hated the idea at first but eventually warmed up to him. Toph just acted normal and didn't really care, but Katara accepted him from the start. She was the one who believed in him...the one who knew that he could change.

"Actually, don't even say anything," the merchant decided, causing Zuko to snap out of his thoughts. "It seems like you care about this girl a great deal. You haven't even said anything, you look like a tomato, and you have the biggest smile on your face." He smiled, too, and handed Zuko the ring in a small black box. "This is for you. Treat it well, young man."

Zuko looked at the small box in his hand and placed it into his pocket. "Thank you. Thank you so much." Zuko shook the man's hand and started walking out of the tent. He walked for a while before deciding to head back to the camp where he and his friends slept.

After walking for a while, Zuko neared the camp and smiled.

"Well, well, well, look who it is."

Zuko stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the voice.

"Who's there?" He raised his hand, casting a small flame which illuminated the area around him. "Show yourself. I don't want to fight."

"You better keep your voice down, Sparky. You don't want to wake up everyone," Toph stated while walking out of the shadows in front of him. Her arms were crossed and a smirk was on her face.

"Toph? What the fuck are you still doing awake?" Zuko asked as he looked at the girl in front of him.

"Well, it seems like I've caught everyone sneaking out of this fucking camp except for Sokka," Toph said as she started walking towards the camp. "My only question is: what were you doing going to the market? It's well past closing time."

"I had some business I had to take care of," Zuko replied while following the girl back to the camp, "and you still never answered my question of why you're awake."

"When you've been blind for the past 16 years, and seeing with your feet for the past 12, you learn to be a very light sleeper," Toph said simply, sitting on a rock around the dying fire. "I saw you walk out of camp and decided to follow you from afar. I also saw you walk towards the market and bent a path underground to follow you."

"So you heard everything that was going on inside of the tent? You heard everything about me getting the ring for Katara?" Zuko asked as he re-lit the fire in front of them.

"Nope. I guess I don't need to, now, do I?" Toph said, smiling.

Zuko groaned into his hands. "I fucking hate you. I hate you so much," he said through his hands.

"Haha, I know," Toph joked. "But in all seriousness, when are you going to give it to her? It's not like you're gonna be alone with her. Sokka won't allow that at all."

"Yeah, I guess I haven't really figured that part out yet. I'll figure something out," Zuko replied, looking at the black box in his hand.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll figure something out," Toph said, patting the Prince on the shoulder. "In the meantime, I recommend going to sleep. We have a long day of flying tomorrow." She walked away from the fire and entered her earth tent. She got settled in and sealed the entrance with a slab of earth.

"Yeah, I guess I should get some sleep, shouldn't I?" Zuko said to himself aloud as he continued to look at the box in his hand. He was wondering when he would give Katara this ring. He sighed deeply.

Smothering the fire, he walked over to his tent and placed the ring deep inside of his belongings so that no one would find it. He climbed into his sleeping bag and started thinking of a life after the war; a life of peace and serenity; a life with Katara by his side. He smiled at the thought and drifted off into a pleasant sleep; a sleep filled with dreams of him and Katara together; dreams that he hoped would one day be a reality.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Welcome to Chapter 6 of A Walk Through Fire! I have to say, this is definitely one of my favorite one of my favorite Aang and Azula sections of the story so far. I really hope that you all enjoy it! Gotta say, the next 3 chapters are going to be CRAZY so be prepared. Without further ado... I present to you...THE CHAPTER! Sorry it's a tad late.
> 
> I STILL DO NOT OWN AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER!

Aang woke up in a frenzy. He was sweaty, panting heavily, and couldn't breathe. Eventually, Aang got his breathing under control and attempted to leave the tent. Once he was outside, he looked up at the sky and sighed.

It's very early so no one should be awake. I might be able to get some meditation done before we have to get going.

He put on his boots and started walking towards a clearing. He saw a lake and decided that it was a suitable place for him to meditate. He sat on the shore and started to meditate. Crossing his arms and legs, he closed his eyes and started clearing his mind. He hasn't been able to find time to meditate due to Azula always either having him with her or he was doing something with Mai or Ty Lee.

While Aang was meditating along the far shore of the lake, Azula was just getting up. Being a Firebender meant that she naturally got up early with the sun, so when it was the crack of dawn, she was awake.

Maybe I'll try to clean up before we head out. The girls shouldn't be awake for a couple more hours, but Aang, I don't know. I'm sure he's probably still asleep. She started down the path she found that led to a lake that she discovered the night before. She walked right past the Avatar who was meditating and arrived at her destination: a crystal blue lake.

Azula smiled to herself as she started to undress herself. She took off her tunic, lightly folded it, placed it on the ground, and started taking off her trousers leaving her in only a bra and underwear. She jumped into the lake and shivered a little bit, but was able to heat up the water around her to a much more comfortable temperature. She sighed and removed her bra so that she could clean herself properly.

Man, this is really nice. It's such a shame that we have to fight those hooligans. I would much rather spend my time furthering the war effort. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

Azula sighed as she cupped water into her hands, brought it to her head, and dumped it into her hair. She started tracing over her body with her hands, checking for new bruises and scars from her battles and fights she's been in. She cupped her breasts and groaned in pleasure.

While Aang was mediating, he heard a noise. A noise which he had never heard before. He decided to think nothing of it and went back to mdatating until he heard it again. He sighed to himself and decided to go investigate.

What in the living fuck could be making that noise? He started walking towards where he heard the noise and stopped dead in his tracks. Is that...no...it can't be…but why is she up so early? He was confused and shocked at the figure he saw in the lake.

They looked to be about five foot ten and had dangerous curves. Black hair was flowing from her head reaching to the swell of her back. Her waist was slim but shaped into voluptuous hips that were still submerged underwater. From a distance, Aang couldn't see any imperfections on her skin. Aang was stunned by how beautiful Azula looked. He had never seen a body as beautiful as hers before and he didn't know what to do but gawk at it.

Azula was standing in the lake trying to dry her hair when she heard a noise that sounded like someone was walking towards her.

Who could that be? Azula stood still and tried to listen to the footsteps. Then she heard a twig snap and she stiffened. Well, shit, this'll be fun. Azula turned around to see the one person she was hoping wasn't awake staring at her.

What Aang saw before him couldn't compare to anything that he could ever imagine. Standing in front of him was his kidnapper-turned crush who just so happened to be naked. He didn't know what to do but check her out. Her curves were incredible and she looked gorgeous. Her breasts were a solid size and were very perky. Moving his eyes down, he looked at her toned muscular stomach that didn't have an ounce of unnecessary fat on it. She was simply the hottest girl he had ever seen in his life.

"AANG, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU PERVERT?!"

Aang immediately snapped out of his trance and realized what he was looking at and screamed. He turned around and shielded his eyes and started blushing rapidly. "Ahh, Azula, I'm so sorry. I was meditating and I heard a noise and I wanted to figure out where it was coming from. Please don't kill me!" Internally, he was screaming. He was not facing the Princess who was also blushing.

"Leave," she calmly stated in a soft but angry tone.

"What did you say?" Aang timidly replied as he moved his head to face her.

"I SAID LEAVE!" Azula exclaimed, and used one of her hands to shoot a turret of royal blue flames towards the boy, causing him to use his Airbending and sprint away towards the campsite they were staying at.

Back at the lake, Azula, who was also blushing, groaned and started walking towards the shore. Why him of all people? The others have seen me naked before.

She sighed and started to walk towards the shore. She raised her internal body temperature which caused the water on her body to evaporate, drying her off instantly. She unfolded her clothes and put them back on. Taking one last look at her reflection in the lake, she sighed and walked back up to the camp.

When she arrived at the campsite, she noticed that Ty Lee and Mai were awake and were getting ready for the long day of riding they were about to have.

Ty Lee, naturally, was not a morning person and looked like a hot mess. Her hair was all over the place and was in desperate need of a brush. She had sleep around the corners of her eyes and mouth. The acrobat had gotten so used to waking up later in the morning and was not used to these early wake up calls from Mai.

Mai, on the other hand, didn't look to be affected by the early wake up, which suggested that she got up at around this time back in Ba Sing Se. She didn't look nearly as disheveled as her friend. Her hair was in its usual position and her clothes didn't look wrinkled at all.

"Good morning, girls," Azula said as she made her way over to her belongings. "How are we doing this morning?"

"I'm fine, Azula, though I don't think Aang is," Mai replied as she started making a simple breakfast for everyone.

"Yeah, he came through camp screaming and just started running away," Ty Lee added as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Azula stopped what she was doing and looked at Ty Lee. "What do you mean?" Azula started, slowly walking towards the campfire where Mai was making food. "Did he say anything specific or do anything weird?"

"What, besides say that you were gonna kill him?" Mai smirked at the Princess and went back to making food. "No. He did, however, wake us up, which wasn't pleasant." She said, handing a plate of nuts and fruits to Ty Lee and a plate of just fruit to Azula. "Do you want any tea, Azula?"

"No," she replied quickly while looking at her breakfast, blushing. "I'll just have some water."

"Are we gonna go find Aang?" Ty Lee spoke after she finished chewing some of her fruit.

"Yes, I will go find him," Azula said, still blushing "Be ready to leave by the time I get back with him." She placed her breakfast on the ground, not before grabbing a piece of fruit from her plate and eating it. "Which way did you say he went?"

Ty Lee pointed to a clump of tees that looked to be disturbed. There were sticks and leaves laying on the ground; evidence that someone had recently moved that way.

"Thank you," Azula said, and started walking towards the forest that Aang ran into. She sighed.

Great. The one time I'm back to normal, I make him run away from me. What kind of monster does that to someone? She thought to herself for a second. Oh wait, I'm that monster. How could I forget?

Aang had no clue where he was. He was running away from Azula and the next thing he knows, he's in the middle of a forest.

"UGH!" he shouted while slamming his fists into the ground, causing a wall of rock to shoot up into the air. "All I wanted to do was meditate. That's all I wanted to do." He looked up into the sky. It was still early in the day, but now the sun had fully risen and shone brightly in the sky. "Whelp, I guess I should probably make my way back to camp...wherever the heck that is." He picked himself up off the ground and started walking back the way he came.

Azula was walking in the forest when she felt the ground rumble. Looking up into the sky she saw a cloud of dust ahead of her. Smiling to herself, she continued to walk down the path she was currently on. Eventually, she heard footsteps and someone talking. She hid herself in the trees and waited for them to walk past her.

"Now she's really going to kill me. My first mission with her and her friends and I'm the one holding them up. Maybe she doesn't care that I was an idiot who ran into a forest and got lost."

Azula smirked and waited for him to pass her position. "He's adorable when he sulks like that," she remarked aloud to herself, but almost as soon as she said it, a hand covered her mouth. Did I just think that he was adorable? She sighed to herself and decided that now was a good time to come out of the shadows.

"You know I wasn't going to kill you right?"

Aang stopped in his tracks. That voice cut through all of his thoughts like a heated knife. He slowly turned around to see Azula smirking at him with her hands on her hips.

"A-Azula," he sputtered. "I mean - Princess...what are you doing here? I thought you were gonna be mad at me." Aang was in total shock that she had tried to find him. He didn't know what to think right now and just stared at her.

"Of course I came to find you. I don't feel like having an empty eel hound following us to the Stronghold," she replied nonchalantly while walking towards the boy. "And, besides, Mai and Ty Lee have taken a liking to you. I wouldn't want them to be mad at me for not trying to find you" Azula looked at Aang who's current face was a bright shade of pink.

"I guess you're right," Aang meekly replied as he started walking towards the edge of the forest. "I wouldn't want your schedule to be pushed further behind because of me."

"Oh Avatar, the schedule has already been altered," Azula said. "At this point we won't be getting there till tomorrow night, which will make for a headache," she continued as she walked ahead of him towards the end of the path.

"Wonderful." His reply was dripping with sarcasm as he facepalmed. Just when I think that everything is ok. "I am sorry about this morning. I honestly didn't mean to see you like that, I swear."

Azula started blushing at the reminder of what happened earlier this morning. She hadn't really thought about it that much. Sure, she was surprised at what happened, but she wasn't really that mad, along with the fact that she had caught him practically naked. They were even at this point.

"It's okay, Avatar. Just don't make a habit out of it," Azula said, taking a second to look over her shoulder to see Aang blushing uncontrollably. This brought a smile to her face and was satisfied with how flustered she made him.

Eventually, Aang and Azula made their way back to the campsite and saw that Mai and Ty Lee were waiting for them. Azula walked up to the lead eel hound and got onto it. She noticed that her breakfast was sitting on the hound and she smiled. I guess Mai does care.

Aang was having much more trouble getting onto his hound. Eventually, he gave up and used his Airbending to propel him into the air and onto the animal.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Azula asked from the head of the group. "We have a lot of ground to cover if we want to get there before the prisoners do."

She heard affirmations from everyone in the group, and so, with a swift hit of the reigns, her eel hound started moving forward.

Aang was sitting on his eel hound looking at Azula. She was currently talking to Mai about something to do with Zuko. He was studying her, trying to get a read on her. She fascinated him in every sense of the word. He just couldn't wrap his head around how she could just switch personalities based on who she was talking to, or how confident she sounded in her decisions. She was a natural leader able to take command of any situation. She had this certain spunk to her that he didn't understand. It was like he was drawn to her - not to mention how beautiful she was. Even with clothing on, one could see how beautiful she was.

"Hey, Aang?"

Aang shook his head, causing him to be drawn back to the real world, blinked a few times, and looked around to see who called his name. He looked to his left and saw Ty Lee looking at him.

"Yeah what's up Ty Lee" Aang replied as he turned to face the acrobat who was riding next to him.

"You've been staring at Zula for the past like 3 hours now," she said.

Her statement caused the Avatar to blush a deep shade of scarlet.

"Ugh, really?" he groaned, covering his face with his hands. This caused Ty Lee to chuckle.

"Yeah, you have," she said, chuckling at the embarrassed boy sitting next to her. He definitely likes her, she thought to herself."By the way," she continued aloud, "what happened that caused you to run through camp like a crazy person? I didn't appreciate getting woken up like that." She frowned at the boy, causing him to blush even more.

"I'm sorry I did that," Aang said. "I really am."

Ty Lee giggled and looked back at him. "It's fine...just please don't do it again." She went back to her normal smiling self. "But, seriously...what happened between you and Azula?"

"Oh, yeah, that…" Aang started to explain to Ty Lee what had happened to him that morning, starting with waking up from his bad dream to seeing Azula find him in the forest. She looked at him with a pretty neutral face, but she did smile when Aang went on about Azula's body. Once he finished retelling the events that had occured, he looked at her upfront again and sighed.

"You like her, don't you?" Ty Lee said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You can't even lie. Just admit it. You like her."

Aang looked across to her and lowered his head, trying to hide his blush. "She's just so fascinating," he replied. "I can't explain it. From the way she walks to the way that she can just lead people; it's incredible. She's incredible." He looked at his hands and then back up at Azula, who was still talking to Mai about something.

"You know, Aang," Ty Lee started, looking the Avatar in the eyes. "It's not everyday that Azula blushes, or shows an emotion other than dominance and just general malice for that matter." She glanced at Azula who had stopped talking to Mai.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Aang said slowly. "But it's not like she even thinks of me as anything other than her soldier, let alone a friend. Crush is out the window for her. I'm nothing to her," he ended, looking solemn.

Ty Lee looked at him and then at Azula. Well, she definitely sees you as something because her aura has been getting brighter and brighter ever since this trip started, she remarked to herself, which can only mean that she likes you and is thinking about you.

"I'm sure she cares about you," Ty Lee assured him. "She brought you on this mission, didn't she?"

"That's true," Aang pondered. "She didn't have to bring me with her."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Aang. She cares. She just hasn't shown it yet." Ty Lee smiled at the boy and faced forward on her eel hound. When will she show him that she cares? she thought to herself.

Eventually, the group stopped at another clearing and started setting up camp. Mai made them all dinner and Ty Lee started telling ghost stories. As the night wore on, everyone started leaving to go pitch their tents. Azula was the first to leave, saying that she needed to check some maps that she had brought with her. Aang was the second to leave, saying that he was going to find a body of water nearby to practice some Waterbending before going to sleep. This left Ty Lee and Mai at the fire.

"What were you and Zula talking about?" Ty Lee asked out of the blue. She didn't look up at the assassin sitting next to her.

"Probably the same thing you were talking to Aang about," Mai replied. She was holding a stick, poking the fire to try and keep it going.

Silence over took the group as they sat looking at the crackling flames.

"I think Azula likes him," Mai said, ending the pregnant pause. "I think she's too caught up in her pride to admit it, but the signs are definitely there."

"I think they both like each other," Ty Lee said. "No doubt about it." She looked at Mai who was still stoking the fire.

"Now it's just a matter to see who caves to the other first," Mai smirked as she gave up and let the fire die.

"Yup! It's gonna be so cute to watch." Ty Lee squealed while jumping up. "They would be so cute together!"

"Yeah." Mai looked at the sky and at the campfire which was now merely embers. "They would be."  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"Guys, get up!" Sokka yelled to everyone who was still asleep.

"Sokka, I swear to Agni, will you please SHUT THE FUCK UP?!" Zuko shouted from his tent.

"For once, I agree with Sparky. SHUT UP" Toph yelled in response to Sokka.

"Well, maybe if y'all didn't sleep so late, we wouldn't be behind schedule," Sokka complained, beginning to pack up his belongings and load them onto Appa.

"Sokka, we are still going to get to the Stronghold tomorrow," Katara said, who was getting breakfast made for the group when Sokka made his announcement. "We will just be getting there in the afternoon and not the morning."

"It's not like Suki is even going to be there yet," Zuko added. "You insisted that we get there a day early so that we could scope out the area and make a plan." He got out of his tent and started putting on his shirt. He always got hot when he slept, so he just decided to take it off.

"Yeah, and what are we even going to do once we have Suki?" Toph asked, lowering her earth tent and walking towards the others.

"Well, we should probably go try to get information about Ba Sing Se, then," Sokka said, moving towards the firepit. He was handed breakfast from Katara.

"Yeah," Katara agreed while giving Toph and Zuko breakfast. "We need to make sure that Aang is still in Ba Sing Se."

"Or alive," Zuko mumbled while taking a bite of his fruit.

"What do you mean, alive?!" Katara shouted at the Firebender.

"I'm just saying, Azula wouldn't hesitate to kill him," he replied, looking at the ground.

"Well, you don't seem too hurt about that, now, do you?" Katara fired back at Zuko, causing Toph and Sokka to sit back and watch the show.

"Hope you don't care about that schedule," Toph whispered to Sokka, who just sighed in response.

"What do you mean I don't care about Aang?" Zoka shouted at Katara. "I saved him from getting kidnapped at the very Stronghold we're going to right now."

"Bitch, please, I've saved his ass more times then I can count!" Katara started moving closer to Zuko, her hands flailing around.

"I know!" Zuko continued, standing up and walking towards Katara. " I'm just saying that there's a possibility that he could be dead! I've seen what Azula can do, and it's not pretty!"

"He's probably still alive. Why would Azula kill him?"

"She's crazy, not stupid."

"Exactly!"

"Exactly!"

The argument had escalated to such a degree that the pair didn't realize that Sokka and Toph were laughing at them. Confused, Katara looked at Toph and pointed. "Why are you laughing?! What part of this is funny?"

"It's more of the fact that you both agree with each other but are too loud to realize it," The Earthebnder replied while holding her side. Sokka was on the ground rolling around with tears in his eyes.

"Sokka, get up, it wasn't that funny," Katara said while grabbing her brother by the ear, pulling him up to his feet.

"Ow, ow, ow!" he yelped as he was being dragged to Appa. "Okay, it wasn't that funny, I get it."

Zuko and Toph laughed at the siblings as they packed up their things and loaded them onto Appa.

Eventually, the group got their belongings onto Appa and Sokka took the reins. They flew up into the cool morning air. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and all was peaceful. Everything was going smoothly and at this rate they would be arriving at the Stronghold tomorrow afternoon.

The group had been in the sky for a few hours when something felt off. Katara couldn't quite explain it, but something in her gut told her that something was wrong.

"Hey, you guys smell that?" Sokka said from the front of Appa.

"Yeah," Katara pondered, "it smells like something is burning. But how can we smell it from up here?" She looked over the saddle to the ground.

"Sokka, fly lower to the ground," Zuko commanded as he was trying to figure out what was causing the fires.

"No, we have to stay on schedule," Sokka said affirmatively. "If we stop to put out the fires, we risk being late and not knowing how to rescue Suki."

"Sokka, we are just gonna put out the fire," Katara said as she gathered up water from the clouds into her palms. "We don't have to figure out how it happened."

"Fine," Sokka sighed, and commanded Appa to land on a patch of land that wasn't on fire.

Toph and Katara jumped out of the saddle and started running towards the trees that were on fire.

"Is this how you feel all the time?" Zuko asked Sokka, who was also sitting in the saddle waiting for the girls to return.

"What? The feeling of being totally useless while everyone else goes to save the world without you?" Sokka looked at Zuko and smirked. "You get used to it after a while."

Off in the forest, Katara was Waterbending to try and put out the fire. She and Toph were slowly lessening the impact that it had. While she was using water, Toph was bending trenches and breaking up the ground.

"How big is this fire?" Toph yelled as she created another trench.

"This should be the last of it," Katara spoke as she doused the last of the fire. "Good job, Toph, we did it!"

"Yeah, only took an eternity," she replied sarcastically. "What could have caused this?"

"Hm, I don't know," Katara said while walking towards Appa. "Maybe someone didn't douse their camp fire or something."

"Yeah," Toph said. "I may be the greatest Earthbender in the world, but I don't think I could have put out that fire all by myself." She bended her way to Appa.

"Aww, thanks, Toph," Katara said cutely. "I couldn't have done it without you, either."

The girls arrived back at Appa to see both Zuko and Sokka asleep with Momo curled up.

"Aw, look at them sleeping," Katara said, pointing at the two boys in the saddle. "Don't they just look adorable?"

"Oh, you see nothing once, you see nothing a thousand times," Toph stated casually as she hopped into the saddle.

"You know what, Toph," Katara said, "fuck you." She climbed onto the front of Appa and commanded him to lift off into the air.

"No thanks, I don't swing that way, Sweetness," Toph continued, smirking. "But thanks for the offer." She smiled and settled into the saddle.

Katara sighed and flew Appa for six hours that day. She honestly didn't realize how long she had been flying. She was thinking about Aang and Zuko. She didn't consider how long it had been since she had seen Aang. She just kinda forgot about him. I'm sure he's probably fine, right? she thought to herself. She didn't have any doubts about Aang, or his abilities to get out of sticky situations; but she couldn't help but worry. "He has to be ok," she reassured to herself out loud. "He just has to be."

"Yo, Sugar Queen," Toph called from the saddle. "Are we gonna eat soon?"

Karate hadn't realized how late it was and looked at the now dark sky. "Yeah, we'll land soon."

She found a suitable spot to land Appa and hopped off. She started unloading all the equipment that they traveled with. Soon, she had everything that she needed for dinner and started cooking for her friends.

"Ugh, what happened?" Sokka groaned and rubbed his eyes. He was still groggy from the seven hour nap that he just took. "Did y'all remove the fire?"

"Yeah, sleeping beauty," Toph mocked. "We did that hours ago." She moved both boys out of the saddle, jumped out, and landed onto the ground.

"Sorry I wasn't much help today," Zuko muttered as he started pitching his tent. He walked back over to the group.

"Like I said, Zuks, you'll get used to not being able to help," Sokka said, patting the Prince on the shoulder and smiling, causing Zuko to choke on the dinner that he was eating.

"Did you just call him Zuks?" Toph sputtered in between fits of laughter. "That's, like, the worst thing I've ever heard."

"Okay, you know what Toph?" Sokka threatened, pointing his finger at the girl who just smirked at him. Realizing that he had nothing that he could say, he just sighed and continued eating his dinner.

After everyone finished their meals, Sokka told everyone that they needed to go to bed so that they could be up bright and early to get to the Stronghold in time to do some recon. Begrudgingly, they all agreed.

Each member said their good nights and went off to sleep, all trying to ready themselves for the final leg of their journey to get their beloved Suki back.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings and welcome back to another chapter of A Walk Through Fire! This one is a bit shorter then the others but its still packed with love! I'm just gonna let y'all know now that the next few chapters are gonna start getting intense so be prepared! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Don't forget to favorite,follow, and review!
> 
> I still don't own Avatar the Last Airbender!

Azula was sitting in her tent. She knew that it was earlier in the morning; the sun hadn't risen yet but she knew that it would eventually and that they would have to continue their journey to the Stronghold.

Damnit Mai, she thought. You just had to say something. You couldn't just leave me alone about my stupid feelings.

Sighing to herself, Azula got out of her tent and saw that it was still very dark outside. She saw that Aang's tent wasn't pitched yet.

That's odd, why isn't his tent pitched? Wait, WHERE IS HE?

Azula wasn't an idiot. She had kidnapped him, and she also knew that he technically wasn't supposed to leave her presence. She had him with people who she thought could look after him when she can't, hence the training with Ty Lee and Mai, or being in his room with them while she was running Ba Sing Se. Right now, however, they were in a wide open area; an area perfect to run away.

Shit, did he run away? she thought. He couldn't leave. He just couldn't leave me, right? Azula looked around at the rest of the camp. Think: where did he say he was going? Last time he left, he left footprints.

She looked on the ground and found a set of footprints. Oh thank Agni, she thought as she followed the footprints towards a small lake where she found her crush laying on the ground unconscious, but seemingly uninjured.

What the fuck happened here?!

Earlier that Evening

Aang was confused. He never really was able to think about how he got kidnapped. All he remembered was being in the Avatar State and then he just woke up in chains. He knew that Azula had a master plan for kidnapping him, but he didn't know what it was. Honestly, he didn't know anything. He didn't know why he was there, how he got into this situation; heck, he didn't even know the gravity of the situation.

"I just had to get kidnapped," he said aloud to himself. "I just had to abandon my friends. I just wasn't powerful enough." He continued to mumble to himself as he walked towards the river that he had found. He stopped in front of it and fell to his knees. "Why me? Why did it have to be me?!"

"What do you mean, Aang?"

Aang looked up with tears in his eyes to see a shimmering vision of Avatar Roku in the water in front of him. Roku looked at the young Avatar with concern.

"Roku?" Aang said, staring at his previous life and smiling softly. "What are you doing here? I didn't know Firebenders liked standing on water."

Roku chuckled at the boy's response and walked over to where he was on the riverbank. "Yes, well, this Firebender has mellowed with age and was quite fond of a heated pool back in his day."

Aang relaxed a bit and smiled while he whipped the tears that were staining his cheeks. He looked at his previous incarnation and smiled. "So why are you here Roku? You usually don't appear unless you have something important to tell me."

Roku sighed and looked at Aang. "Yes," he answered. "I have realized that I don't usually mettle with you and your life. But I couldn't help but see how distraught you were." He sat down next to Aang and looked across the water.

"Kyoshi put you up to this, didn't she?" Aang asked, suspicious.

"Yes...she was going to come instead of me. But I don't think you would have liked what she was going to say."

"Oh, wonderful," Aang replied as he rolled his eyes and looked at Roku.

"But, seriously, Aang, what's wrong?"

Aang looked at his hands and back at Roku. He didn't know how or where to start; he just looked at him. He stared into the man's glowing eyes and just sighed. "Well, I've been captured by the Fire Nation," he began. "I have a crush on the person who kidnapped and tortured me; I haven't seen or heard from my friends in a month and a half; I still can't Firebend; and I also can't access the Avatar State. So, yeah. Oh, did I mention that I'M ALSO FIGHTING A WAR?!"

Roku looked at him and could only pity him. He knew that Aang was going through a lot, but he didn't know that he was going through this much. He sighed and thought about what he could actually help him with.

"Aang, I didn't know that you were going through all of this, but I unfortunately can't help you with most of it."

"So, then, why did you come to me if you can't help me?" Aang asked, starting to get frustrated again. He had so many issues that he knew that he couldn't solve that it was starting to get to him.

"I came to talk to you about the Avatar State," Roku replied calmly.

"Really?" Aang said, perplexed. "That's why you came?"

"Yes...why do you sound so shocked?"

"To be honest, Roku, you kinda just give me vague info that I then have to spend days trying to figure out," Aang replied bluntly.

Roku looked at Aang and chuckled to himself. He knew that he was right, of course, and let the slight insult go over his head.

"No, young Avatar. I have come to help you get back into the Avatar State." He stood, walked over to a rock, and sat. "You need to get in contact with your truest self. Only then will you be able to unlock it again."

Aang stood up and looked at Roku with a smirk on his face. "There's the vague information I was looking for."

Roku simply rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself."

"Great…so are you gonna help me figure out what the heck that means?"

"Nope!" Roku replied quickly, grinning.

"Glad you haven't changed," Aang said, rolling his eyes and watching as the spirit before him laughed at the jab.

"Well, I guess I can advise you to get in touch with your emotions," said Roku. "How did you unlock it the first time?"

"Well, some Guru gave me some weird juice thing and then told me to open my chakras," Aang recalled.

Roku stroked his chin and furrowed his eyebrows, seemingly deep in thought. "Have you tried reopening them again? Maybe when you got shot with lightning, all the chakras closed."

Aang was about to say how that idea wasn't gonna work, but then he realized that he never actually tried to open them up again. "Hey, you know, that could actually…" Aang looked around to try and find Roku, but he was gone. "...work," he finished defeatedly.

"Oh well, at least now I can go back into the Avatar State," he thought aloud. "I still have a bunch of other problems that I have to figure out, but this takes a big one off my plate. But how do I open up my chakras without the Guru?"

Aang started pacing back and forth on the riverbank. He had to figure out a way to open his chakras or else his entire conversation with Roku would have been totally worthless. "Think, Aang. There's gotta be something that you can do right? Maybe I could just open all of them at the same time."

He sat down on the ground and started to mediate. After a while, he was able to reach a state similar to the one he was in when he was unlocking the chakras for the first time.

Alright, Aang, his inner voice said to him. All you have to do is open all of the chakras at once. Not that difficult...just gotta concentrate. Just gotta concentrate...and...

Suddenly, Aang felt a great sensation wash over his body. It was a sensation that started from his toes and slowly worked its way up to his hips and then to the swell of his back. The feeling was getting stronger the higher it moved up his body. He went into an orgasmic-like state the longer he was opening his chakras. It seemed to hit a peak when the feeling reached the crown of his head. It felt as if his entire body was contracting in on itself. He felt ecstatic..

"I..I...GRAUH!"

Suddenly, Aang felt euphoria. He felt like he was laying on a cloud and floating through time and space. Nothing mattered to him right now. He hadn't been captured, he hadn't been fighting a war; he was just in paradise; a place he didn't want to leave.

Azula didn't know what to do. All she saw in front of her was an unconscious Aang laying on a beach. He looked so peaceful that she honestly didn't want to disturb him. It was the most relaxed she had ever seen him. He had a gentle smile on his face and was breathing softly.

"I have to move him back to camp...I'll just put him in my tent, I guess," she mumbled to herself as she picked up the boy and carried him back up to where she slept the previous night.

His clothes are all dirty, she thought. If I wash them now, they might be able to dry in time. Wait, why do I care about his clothes? So what if they are dirty!

Azula just shook her head and started undressing him. As she took off his clothes, he started mumbling.

Oh, Agni, what is he saying?

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

For what? What did he do? Why do I care so much?

"I'm so sorry."

Azula didn't know what to do. Just 10 minutes ago, he looked to be in a peaceful slumber, but now, he was apologizing. For what, she didn't know. Is it for yesterday? All she knew was that he was now unclothed and she had his clothing in her hands.

She left the tent, walked over to the river, and started to wash the Avatar's clothing, removing the dirt and stain that was on it. "You owe me for this, Aang," she scoffed as she cleaned his clothing and hung it on a tree branch. When she was done, she made her way to her tent and found that Aang was still asleep, but was now wrapped in her sleeping bag.

Oh, for fuck's sake, what am I supposed to do now? she thought, bewildered. She stood there for a moment and watched as he slept. Whatever dream he was having before was gone as there was now no evidence of pain or sorrow on his face and he had stopped mumbling to himself. She decided that she could just sit next to him cross legged and read a book while he slept.

This, however, didn't last very long as she felt movement on her leg and saw that Aang was struggling with what looked to be another nightmare.

Sighing to herself, she decided to place his head into her lap, resting his head on her thigh. She sat reading her book while also cradling the boy. He started to toss and turn a little, causing Azula discomfort.

Why can't he just sleep normally and peacefully like everyone else? she thought irritably. It's not like he gets nightmares or anything. Only monsters get nightmares.

He continued to move around in her lap until she put a hand on his shoulder. I gotta calm him down, she assured herself. Seeing that there was nothing she could do, she started to rub his shoulder.

I can't believe that I, Princess Azula, am currently comforting the Avatar, a person who is my enemy, but someone who also needs to be comforted. No, he doesn't need comforting, he can comfort himself.

Azula was totally out of her element; she was not known for being all that friendly, and she definitely wasn't the one to go to for comfort. But here she was, comforting the Avatar, her sworn enemy, while he had a nightmare. She sighed, looked down at the sleeping boy, and blushed. She knew deep down that she had a crush on him. Hell, everyone knew at this point that she had a crush on him, and it was confirmed in her mind when she talked to Mai yesterday.

"I just hope no one finds me like this," Azula muttered while cradling the Avatar's head.

"Alright, guys, today is the day that we should be getting to the Stronghold, but we have some time to kill since it won't take us that long to get there, thanks to Katara's flying last night."  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Sokka was standing in the middle of the group pointing to their position on a map that he had stolen.

"Alright, so what do we do for the rest of the day?" Toph asked while eating some nuts that she had.

"Well," Sokka said, stroking his chin while he looked at the map in front of him, "it looks like there's a large village near the Stronghold that we can explore before we set up a battle strategy on Operation: Rescue Suki!" He jumped up as he said this and pumped his fist in the air causing everyone to laugh except for Toph.

"Hey, what's so funny?" she asked, looking at Zuko and glaring at him.

"Oh, Toph, you should have seen him, he looked an-"

Zuko was interrupted by a stone crashing down onto his foot.

"I would've loved to have seen it," she said as she punched him in the arm. "But I received the short end of the vision stick."

At this point Katara was cackling and had tears in her eyes. Sokka was also trying not to laugh while Zuko was struggling to get the giant rock off of himself.

Eventually, the group packed up their things and made their way back to Appa, who was enjoying some berries that Momo had gotten him.

Sokka started to load their stuff onto the saddle. Once everything was loaded, they all hopped onto him. With Sokka taking the reins, they took off towards the village.

Katara was sitting back in the saddle. She was watching everyone as they were doing the things that kept them busy during long flights on Appa. She watched Toph take a nap now that she couldn't "see" people and she watched Zuko practice his breathing techniques.

I wish I had something I could do. She stared at Zuko and didn't realize that she was blushing.

"Is there… something on my face or something?"

Katara immediately snapped out of her thoughts when she saw Zuko look at her confused. "Oh, umm, no!" she replied hastily. "There's nothing wrong with your face." She turned around in the saddle so that she wouldn't face him.

"Oh," Zuko said, blushing as he looked at her back now. "Well, if that's the case, then why were you staring at me?"

"I wasn't staring at you!" She shouted, turning around to face the Prince. "I was just… looking at the cloud that was behind you!" She crossed her arms and pouted.

"What cloud could you possibly be talking about?" Zuko asked, turning around to see not a single cloud in the sky.

"Well…there was a cloud that looked just like Momo and it was cute," Katara lied.

"Sure there was," Zuko said in a drier tone.

"What do you mean sure?" Katara snapped.

"Nothing."

"No Zuko, say it!"

"Say what?!" he practically shouted. "I literally just accepted that you were looking at a cloud in the sky!"

"No, you think that I'm lying, don't you!"

"Katara, that makes no sense!" He shouted, raising his arms in frustration.

While they were arguing, Sokka had just landed Appa and helped Toph get out of the saddle. They both laughed at the pair as they were once again arguing over nothing.

"Hey, you want to get something to eat and leave those two to argue?" Sokka asked, looking at the Earthbender next to him.

"Sure," she replied as they both started to walk towards the entrance of the village. "I'm sure that they will be able to handle themselves."

They both left, leaving the still arguing Zuko and Katara in the saddle. Eventually, the two realized that both Sokka and Toph were missing.

"Hey, do you know where they went?" Katara asked as she got out of the saddle and waited for Zuko to exit.

"They probably left to go into the village," he said as he dusted himself off and started to walk towards the village.

"Hey," Katara called as she started running towards him. "Where are you going?"

"Well," he began, halting, "Sokka said that we could spend a good chunk of time here before we head to the Stronghold and figure out how to rescue his girlfriend."

"Oh," Katara said meekly.

Zuko continued to walk into the village with Katara at his side.

The pair walked through the gates of the village and saw how beautiful it was. There were gorgeous yellow and red flowers everywhere that lined the many pathways moving throughout the village. There were beautiful birds flying from the trees. They were singing happily and went on with their days.

"Isn't this just beautiful?" Katara asked Zuko as she took in the beauty of the village.

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like this before," he replied while brushing his hand across the flowers.

"Did they have villages like this in the Fire Nation when you were there?" She asked while looking at the shops.

"Yeah, but nothing nearly as pretty as this," Zuko replied. "Most of our villages don't have these kinds of flowers in them."

"What do you mean?" Katara asked curiously.

Zuko looked at her and blushed a little while she was picking some flowers. "Well, we have a different kind of fauna in the Fire Nation. Most of our flowers are shades of white or red."

"Wow, I can't wait to see them some day," Katara said lightly, standing back up and continuing to walk with Zuko.

"Yeah." Zuko started to blush as she moved closer to him. Their hands brush together and they instantly pull apart.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to touch you," Katara quickly said, blushing.

"No, no, I'm sorry," Zuko stammered. "I should have been paying attention to where my hand was."

"Let's just forget that it ever happened, okay?"

"Yeah lets do that."

They both continued to walk down the street. They saw many different shops and stopped at each one, looking inside of them and even buying something from a few of them. They were so caught up in the moment that they didn't even realize that they were holding hands.

"Oh, well aren't you two such a cute couple," an elderly lady called from the street, causing both of them to blush.

"I'm sorry, Miss, but we aren't a couple," Zuko stated while trying not to blush.

"Well, even if you aren't one, you would make a really cute one," The old lady giggled as she walked past them and sighed to herself. I guess hiding feelings must run in the royal family.

Eventually, Zuko and Katara walked to a merchant selling sandwiches and decided to purchase some. Katara was holding some of the things that she had bought during their shopping trip and Zuko was holding their food. They walked to a secluded part of the village that was on top of a hill. It had a fantastic view of the ocean and the coast of the Earth Kingdom.

"Wow, you can see so much of the coast from up here," Katara said while she was looking at the horizon.

"Yeah," Zuko agreed. "You can even kinda make out the Stronghold way off in the distance." He pointed to a large group of mountains and at the base can be seen a building.

"Wow, is that really it?" Katara said, pointing squinting at the structure. "That's where they are taking Suki?"

"Yeah," he answered as he took a bite out of his sandwich.

The two didn't realize that Sokka and Toph had been trailing behind them since they had gotten lunch and were a few yards away from them, but could still hear their conversation.

"Yeah, they are totally head over heels for each other," Sokka said smugly.

"Wow, I'm shocked it took you this long to realize it," Toph smirked as she heard the conversation that the two love birds were having.

"Yeah, I guess. I mean, I figured that something was brewing between them, but I didn't expect it to be something like this, you know?"

Eventually, Sokka grew tired of watching his sister snuggle up with Zuko and decided that it was time for them to get back to Appa, head to the Stronghold, and scope out the area. He walked up behind Zuko and tapped him on the shoulder which caused him to jump immediately.

"AHH!"

Zuko immediately took up a fighting stance and was about to charge when he heard Sokka and Toph laughing. Looking at who was in front of him, Sokka was bracing for impact and had his eyes closed.

"Fuck you, Sokka," he retorted as he started to walk away from him and back towards the village.

"Well, I guess that's our cue to go back to Appa, is it not?" Toph suggested, nudging Sokka, who then snapped back to reality.

"Yeah, guys, let's head back to Appa. We should reach the Stronghold by late afternoon."

"Alright then," Katara said, getting up off of the ground and starting to walk after Zuko with Toph following behind her.

Sokka was left alone at the top of the hill looking off into the distance. He was holding the necklace he had gotten for Suki in his hands.

"I'm coming, Suki!" Sokka called out. He started walking away towards the village before he took one last look at the horizon. "I'm coming."


End file.
